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Two families allege mismanagement of Covid-19 patients in J&K

Hindustan Times/Srinagar | ByIdrees Bukhtiyar, Srinagar
May 29, 2020 03:20 PM IST

Two patients tested negative in a test conducted in Jammu but tested positive in a test conducted in Baramulla

Two families in a letter to the Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor alleged mismanagement of patients in the Union Territory and demanded that action be taken against the doctors concerned.

Both quarantined patients are residents of Baramulla, they are in their 20s and had been studying in a Delhi College.

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In a letter to L-G Girish Chandra Murmu, the patients’ families wrote, “On May 16, my cousin arrived in Jammu from Delhi. His samples were taken at the railway station after which he was allowed to go home. On the same day, he was quarantined at Welkin School in Sopore with eleven others.”

“On May 23, he was brought to Baramulla and another sample was collected. He was later sent back to Sopore quarantine centre. On May 25, the Jammu sample came out negative. But on Wednesday, he received a call from the district administration asking him to reach Degree College, Baramulla, with all family members, relatives, and friends whom he had met as his test had come out positive,” the letter, which has been circulating on social media, reads.

“We fail to understand how his results differed in a couple of days. There is utter chaos and confusion,” said one of the patients’ relatives, who wrote to the L-G.

‘POOR FACILITIES’

He also complained about poor facilities at the quarantine centre. “They were kept in two rooms. Six persons in each room,” he said, adding, “We demand action against such doctors and administration.”

This is not for the first time that the administration has come under fire for mismanagement. Last month, too, a 70 year-old from Sopore was discharged, however, later his results came out to be positive.

On Thursday, six persons from Pulwama, who had tested positive were allowed to go home before their results were out. The government has ordered a probe into the matter.

“The government must take strict action against doctors who are not performing their jobs seriously putting people’s lives at risk,” said a person admitted in a quarantine centre at Baramulla.

DOCTORS BLAME TECHNICAL ISSUES, INCUBATION PERIOD

A senior doctor at a government hospital in Jammu says the problem may be because of ‘overloading of tests’.

Baramulla chief medical officer (CMO) Deeba Khan said, “Tests may come negative in the incubation period and later come out to be positive.”

She added the problem may arise due to technical faults in the machinery as a huge number of tests are conducted on a daily basis.

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