Video of squalid Covid ward at Karwar hospital goes viral

Karwar: The very poor conditions of the Covid-19 ward at the Karwar Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) have, through a video recorded by one of the patients, found their way to the public domain. However, far from admitting to the fact that the condition of the ward needs to be improved, or providing assurances of working on it, the institute’s director has lashed out at the patient for recording the video and subsequently sharing it on social media.
Many Covid patients housed at the Karwar hospital, however, have not taken kindly to the director’s reaction, asking him not to ‘shoot the messenger’.
The patient who shot the video was admitted to the hospital on Friday and disgusted with the dismal condition of the ward, made a video, which highlighted the lack of basic cleanliness and the glaring lack of hygiene there. The video also reveals that the clothes of a Covid victim had not been cleared from the ward days after his demise. Furthermore, the patient has alleged in the video that those in the ward were forced to clean it themselves owing to the irregularity among the staff. The video also shows that there is only one tumbler in the ward, and just the one water heater for the 53 patients housed there.
When the condition of the Uttara Kannada’s designated Covid hospital was brought to the attention of the deputy commissioner, he directed KIMS director Dr Gajanana Nayak to respond to the exposé. The latter, in a letter to the press, clarified that bio-medical waste was being collected every day for the past three months. The latter goes on to add that, in addition to the 60 Covid patients currently being treated at the hospital, 200 had recovered and had been discharged, all of whom having expressed their gratitude to the staff at KIMS.
The director accused the patient who shot and released the video of levelling wild allegations, and misusing permission to use the mobile phone at the ward. Dr Nayak, in his turn, urged the DC to initiate action against the patient concerned.