No ICU facility yet for severe COVID-19 patients in Odisha's Mayurbhanj

BARIPADA: With unabated surge in Covid-19 cases, lack of ICU facilities for severely affected patients in the district has caused resentment among the people. 

As per reports, neither the 200-bed Bankisole Covid hospital nor 80-bed the isolation ward at Pandit Raghunath Murmu Government Medical College and Hospital (PRM MCH) in Baripada have ICU facilities.

Consequently, doctors tend to refer all critical patients to Bhubaneswar. If sources are to be believed, two patients recently succumbed on the way. 

A social activist Anadan Sankar Sahoo said, "It is surprising that while the Covid hospital is being run by Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), the need for ICU is yet to be realised given the alarming rise in cases and unexpected complications that patients go through. Even adequate ambulance support is unavailable. Why can’t the Government use the State or District Mineral Fund  to provide health facilities despite the fact that it is getting a major revenue share from the district’s mineral resources.”

MCH Superintendent Baikuntha Nath Mohapatra informed that the medical facility has recently opened the 80-bed isolation ward for Covid  patients and ICU facilities will be provided soon. 

According to official sources, as many as 141 fresh positive cases have been reported in the last 24 hours in the district.