‘Slow queues’ at PGI risky for patients
LUCKNOW: Waiting for hours in queue outside the SGPGI’s sample collection centre is an ordeal for cancer, kidney and other patients who gather here for precautionary Covid tests.
Reason: It’s peak summer and the collection centre is located in the open.
Worse still, social distancing norms are thrown to the winds here.
Though plastic sheets have been installed to protect people from the scorching sun, they hardly serve any purpose, lamented patients at the counter.
Sanjay Gupta, a resident of Aliganj whose wife Anita is undergoing chemotherapy at the institute, said: “I don’t mind going for the Covid test, but I hate standing in queue for hours. Social distancing norms are also violated.”
“People push each other while moving in the queue. I fear catching covid infection because there is no arrangement for separate queues for Covid suspects and those undergoing Covid test as a precautionary measure,” he added.
Abhyuday Awasthi, another attendant, said: “My mother is undergoing cancer treatment at the PGI. She had to wait for around six hours for the Covid test. I feel there are possibilities of people contracting the infection while standing in queue as no one is following social distancing norms.”
However SGPGIMS director Radha Krishna Dheeman said, “We wanted to shift the collection centre, but we were unable to find another space for it. We cannot take the risk of shifting the collection centre to any other building as it will expose our other staff to the virus. But we have constructed a shade with plastic sheets, installed 11 fans and placed chairs for patients at the counter.”
“It is a cause of concern that some people are not following social distancing norms at the place. To solve the problem, we have decided to issue tokens so that patients can come with the attendants only when their number is called out. We will depute more staff, including a PRO, for crowd management,” he added.
Dheeman said, “We will try to increase the number of sample collection counters . At the same time, we will try to cover the area from the other side too for protecting patients and their attendants from the heat.”
PGI officials said 100 to 120 samples are collected every day by the sample collection counter. The queue becomes long because it takes 10 to 12 minutes to take a sample from an individual.