BERHAMPUR: The State Government might have ramped up efforts to contain the coronavirus surge in Ganjam but situation in the COVID-19 hotspot district continues to remain grim.

Though the Government has deputed a record number of doctors and administrative officers, management is far from smooth. With the COVID-19 situation dragging along for five months, sources said, most frontline health workers have developed fatigue working in the stressful conditions.

While there are reports of poor health service at some hospitals, public cooperation too has emerged as a huge issue for the health staff. Last week, swab samples were collected from a group of residents of Birasingh Laxminarayanpur village in Chikiti block.

The health authorities intimated five villagers who had tested positive and asked them to get ready to be picked up by an ambulance. When the ambulance reached the village, the infected persons refused to board it and demanded their reports.

After failing to convince them, the ambulance returned without the patients and anganwadi workers pasted isolation posters in front of their houses. Till reports last came in, no health official had reached the village. All the five positive persons were roaming freely in the village while panic-stricken locals stayed behind closed doors fearing infection.

Similarly, the administration claims that patients admitted to COVID hospitals are being given their health reports. However, some patients who were discharged from hospital after recovery deny the claim. They said they were kept in the hospital for five days and given medicines. During discharge, the patients were not given their discharge reports, they alleged.

This apart, some of the patients claimed that they were discharged before their recovery from flu or fever with a direction to stay in home isolation and regular medication.

The administration has opened Covid hospitals in most of the blocks and all urban areas of Ganjam to treat infected persons but patients in many healthcare facilities complain of absence of doctors at the time of need.

Doctors were deputed to Tata Covid hospital to attend to serious patients but sources said patients complain that there are not enough hands to manage the affairs in the hospital.

On Sunday, a patient admitted to the hospital ICU suffered from limb failure and diarhhoea. Though the health staff cleaned the patient and changed his bed sheet, no doctor attended to him for several hours. Similar allegations were reported from other hospitals.

Health crisis

• Most frontline workers have developed fatigue working in the stressful conditions

• While there are reports of poor health service at some hospitals, public cooperation too has emerged as a huge issue for the healthcare workers

• Many patients claimed they were discharged from hospitals before their recovery from flu or fever with a direction to stay in home isolation

• Patients in healthcare facilities complain of absence of doctors at the time of need