Jalandhar officials struggle to trace patients as cases rise
JALANDHAR : With an average of over 50 persons testing positive for Covid-19 in the district for at least the past month, the process of ‘tracing and shifting’ these individuals to the civil hospital’s Covid Care Centre is proving to be a testing one for the health authorities.
The two major impediments are the shortage of ambulances, with only 23 available with the administration, and the second is the wrong address that some who test provide to the authorities. In some cases, health functionaries also have to deal with patients who feel stigmatised and refuse to engage with the authorities. From 733 positive cases on July 1, the district now has 1,901 positive cases on July 24, with 65 cases reported on Friday.
With ambulances needing proper disinfection and sanitisation after each round, health officials are forced to appeal to patients to come to the hospital or Covid Care Centre in their private vehicle.
Deputy medical commissioner Jyoti Sharma said that the district has a fleet of 18 (108-ambulances) and 5 from other sources in the district. “Naturally, with increasing cases, we are facing a tough time in managing ambulances. Now, we send out ambulance for positive patients only till 8pm. People who do not share correct information add to our woes.”
She said that after procuring the sample for Covid-19 testing, people are advised to remain in isolation at home but most people do not comply with norms.
Officials admit that there have been cases when police and health departments have not been able to trace a patient, as wrong address had been submitted. A senior police officer, on request of anonymity, said, “In some cases, patients are traced. It is usually the migrants who are the most trouble and we fail to trace them.” Nodal officer Dr TP Singh said cases were traced and some took time, but with the help of the police department they tried to trace all patients. “In some cases, migrants have returned to their native places before receiving treatment.”