Rae Bareli: The Uttar Pradesh government relocated doctors and paramedics treating COVID-19 patients in Rae Bareli district Wednesday after they released videos highlighting horrible living conditions at a quarantine centre set up in a government-run hospital.
Rae Bareli has reported 43 active COVID-19 cases so far. The staff that is under ‘active quarantine’ wrote about their plight to the chief medical officer (CMO) of the district.
“I inspected the place myself and I did not find the facilities up to the mark. With the help of the administration we have shifted them to a nearby guest house and we will ensure they have no issues with living condition or food and they can be fully satisfied and work,” said CMO Dr SK Sharma, adding, “We are also arranging for a live kitchen there so the doctors can get hot cooked food”.
The doctors released two videos Wednesday to highlight their terrible living conditions.
“It is 3 am. There is no electricity; there are four cots to a single room. This is five-star class (but) not even a fan is working. Let me show you the common bathrooms here. The urinals have no pipes and the latrines are choked,” a man can be heard in the first video.
The second video showed the terrible food they are being forced to eat.
“Look at this food being served for lunch. It is packed in polythene and everything is just bunched together – poori and sabzi. This is for doctors and staff engaged in treating COVID-19 patients,” a man can be heard in the video.
“Sleeping arrangements are such that there is a school with big classrooms; each room has four beds. This is against the rules of active quarantine. When we complained about choked bathrooms, they brought a mobile toilet. There was no electricity at night. A 20-litre water bottle was given to us last night and we were told this had to be shared,” the doctor said in the third video.
Several leaders across many party lines have emphasized the safety and well-being of healthcare workers fighting on the frontline of the COVID-19 fight.
Home Minister Amit Shah declared that the ‘safety and dignity of doctors is non-negotiable’, following which the goverbment passed an executive order Wednesday making attacks on doctors a non-bailable offence punishable with prison time of up to seven years and a hefty fine.
“We just want to know if these are the standards for healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients. If one of us gets infected won’t all of us get infected?” one of the doctors in Rae Bareli asked.
PNN