Salem: In a shocking video that reeks of gross negligence, rats were filmed freely roaming and running around inside the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a government hospital in Tamil Nadu’ Salem.
The video, captured by a patient at the Salem government super speciality hospital, shows rats running across the ICU and jumping along oxygen pipelines while the patients were seen sleeping on beds.
Some relatives of the patients alleged that the rats were entering the unit through holes in walls and the false ceiling and also complained about unsanitary toilets and unavailability of clean water. Worried about as to what would happen if the rats damaged the oxygen lines, patients urged authorities to improve the condition of the hospital.
Watch the video here:
A patient admitted to Government Super Speciality Hospital in #Salem district recorded videos of several rats roaming inside the ICU. After complaints, authorities laid rat traps and caught few of them. CM home town hospital pic.twitter.com/CtTql6sqyU
— Imcool Rafi (@imcoolrafi) October 20, 2020
Reacting to the video, R Balajinathan, dean of Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital (GMKMCH), told The New Indian Express that the hospital administration has inquired and found rats roaming in that ICU in the night hours.
He said that the rat infestation was only after the rains and added that the pest control was properly being done and the situation is now under control.
“We have arranged to catch these rats and have set rat traps in 40 places in the hospital premises aside from putting out rat cakes,” he told The New Indian Express.
By the end of Tuesday, the staff had managed to catch at least 50 rats.