As an increasing number of people in Manipur in Northeast India are being hit by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more COVID-19 patients are being rushed to hospitals in the state for treatment in the hope of surviving the virus attack. However, all the hospitals and health centres are facing problem in accommodating the rising number of patients as they are running out of beds and oxygen supply. Moreover, several health staff themselves are being affected by the infection. As the state health sector faces several setbacks amid the pandemic, COVID-19 patients staying in a COVID Care Centre (CCC) in Imphal, run by the state government, complained of inconveniences caused to them as they are made to share the room with patients either recovering or newly admitted.
The COVID-19 patients kept in isolation at the Covid Care Centre said they are satisfied with the service provided in the centre. However, as they are recovering they felt highly inconvenient in being made to share the same room with newly admitted COVID-19 positive patients.
When the Imphal Free Press interacted with some of the patients on phone, they said that the service provided in the centre is satisfactory. Well-equipped Covid Care Centres are urgently needed for COVID-19 positive people who do not have space and facilities at home to stay in isolation. The staff in the centre is dutiful and the doctors frequently visit them to check their condition. If any patient is in serious condition, he or she is referred to a hospital without much delay.
“The service would be more effective if the authority concerned made a systematic arrangement of beds,” one of the patients told the IFP.
Keeping both recovering and new COVID-19 patients in one common room has caused great inconveniences.
Moreover, patients from far flung areas face issues of not getting food in the COVID Care Centre, he added.
The patients in the centre also appealed to the authority concerned to let them confirm their COVID status by re-testing before discharging so that their family members do not have doubt of further infection.
It may be mentioned that the state government has opened COVID Care Centre at Bal Bhawan, Khuman Lampak, National Sports University Complex, Khuman Lampak, Bishnupur and Lamboi Khongnangkhong.
It may be recalled that recently the Indian Medical Association Manipur state branch had recommended the state government for conversion of some hotels into Covid care centres for mildly symptomatic patients considering the interest of those who can afford it as a step to reduce undue pressure of admission of covid patients in referral hospitals.
Manipur's COVID-19 confirmed caseload on Saturday crossed the 42000-mark with 757 more people testing positive for the infection, the highest single-day number of COVID-19 positive cases in the state till date. While the state's COVID-19 caseload surged to 43,322, the death toll mounted to 674 with 13 more deaths reported, according to the latest update by the state health department.
Imphal West and Imphal East continued to report the highest daily COVID-19 cases at 336 and 141 respectively. The state's total number of COVID-19 active cases stood at 6,390. The recovery rate remained 83.69 per cent.
Meanwhile, the state government announced that a total of 1,366 D type oxygen cylinders and 504 B-type oxygen cylinders have been made available to different health institutions and health facilities of the state. And total of 3,35,396 people have been administered COVID-19 vaccine in the state till date.
