No centralized desk, positive patients do not know what to do, where to go

Nagpur: Even with fewer than 1,700 Covid-19 active patients in the district, admission and monitoring of positive patients was far from systematic on Wednesday. The lack of a centralized desk is said to be the major reason behind the haywire situation.
MLA and corporator Pravin Datke told TOI, “Testing and admission of positive patients has gone haywire in the district. There is no system where a person testing positive can go, get checked, and seek guidance whether to be in home isolation or get admitted in hospital etc.”
Some persons getting positive reports called public representatives, who got them admitted as per their sources. Some patients want admission in private hospitals but have no idea where to go. “Some patients are directly going to GMCH, IGGMCH or private hospitals and pleading for admission,” said Datke.
He added, “There is an urgent need for a centralized desk like in Mumbai. All testing positive should report at the desk to be checked and get total guidance on further actions. This will help monitor the status of patients,” he said.
In a case on Wednesday, a 70-year-old man from Gadikhana went to a private hospital complaining of uneasiness on July 26. The doctors suggested Covid-19 test after examining X-ray report. The person went home and got the test done at 2.13pm the next day in a private laboratory. Though it is mandatory to give report within 24 hours, the person received report at 10.19am on July 29.
One of the sons of the patient contacted a legislator who arranged for an ambulance from Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and asked him to get admitted in GMCH. “There were no workers with the ambulance and we had to take our father into the ambulance,” one of the sons told TOI.
He added, “We wanted the entire family to be tested. Also, no one had PPEs, so we did not go in the ambulance. Half an hour later, we got a call there was no one to take my father into isolation ward from the ambulance. The GMCH staffers asked us to come there, and also warned my father will remain in ambulance in case of delay or if we do not reach. My younger brother rushed to GMCH, but doctors declared him brought dead at 2.15pm,” he said.
The son also said, “My father would have received treatment and been saved if we had received the report in time.”
GMCH medical superintendent Avinash Gawande denied any such lapses. “We have engaged sufficient workers to take patients from ambulance to isolation wards. We have even deployed a doctor of deputy superintendent rank to ensure treatment to any positive patient walking into GMCH premises,” he said.
In another case, a youth from Reshimbagh was admitted at a private hospital in Sitabuldi for treatment of kidney stone. As per hospital’s advice, he got tested and reports came positive.
The youth wished to get admitted in a private hospital for treatment of kidney stone as well as Covid-19. He and his family members contacted two public representatives and all available sources for admission from morning to evening. Finally, he got admission in a private hospital in the night.
NMC sources told TOI persons who test positive are being contacted after a delay of one or two days. “Reports come from government and private laboratories to NMC head office, which scrutinizes and distributes them to 10 zone offices in night. The persons at zone offices started contacting patients the next day. In case of wrong number or any problem in coverage etc, the status of patient is unknown,” sources said.
After an alert from the government, the administration had claimed all preparedness for handling 12,000 patients in a day.