SHILLONG: A day after the nursing staff of NEIGRIHMS accused the administration of mishandling the COVID patients in the institute and thereby risking the lives of the staff, the Opposition Chief Whip, PT Sawkmie shot off a letter to the Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan highlighting the problems faced by the nurses at the Institute and demanded an inquiry into the matter.
Sawkmie said the issue raised by the nurses during a protest in the campus on Tuesday is very serious as the nurses, after working in the Hospital and exposing themselves to the COVID-19 patient, were supposed to stay in the quarantine centre to be provided by NEIGRIHMS itself but the authorities did not allow them to go for quarantine.
“Instead, the authorities sent them directly to their respective residences which is very harmful to their family members, neighbours and the community as a whole,” Sawkmie said. Earlier, the NEIGRIHMS had asserted that it is following the directives from the Ministry of Health regarding the protocols for quarantine of health care workers.
NEIGRIHMS nodal officer for COVID-19, Dr Vijay Noel Nongpiur said the most recent order issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Directorate General of Health & Services (EMR) Division clearly defines the SOPs for health care workers’ deployment for COVID-19 and also the SOPs to be followed in case the health care workers report exposure.
“Also, with regard to the recommendation to provide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to the health care workers, the Institute is following the most recent guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Directorate General of Health & Services (EMR) Division,” he said.
He, however, said that if there is any change in the directions with regard to the quarantine and recommendations for PPE from the ministry, the same will be followed by the Institute.
Regarding the condition of the COVID positive patients in the Institute, it was informed that both the mother and father are presently asymptomatic and the baby is healthy and they will be discharged soon as per the ministry’s discharge policy.
Lady violated protocols
The pregnant lady who gave birth at NEIGRIHMS and was tested positive after having been admitted there, had violated protocol. Normally returnees from outside the state, especially those from states like Delhi with several areas designated as red zones and who are under home quarantine, should actually come to the hospital in the 108 ambulance as per protocol, even if they had earlier tested negative.
Curiously, the lady came in a local taxi, the NEIGRIHMS doctors informed. After she tested positive, the doctors managed to trace the taxi and the driver and quarantined him.
The lady was admitted for labour pain on June 6 at 8.30 pm armed with a certificate that she had tested negative. Since she was in great pain which later turned out to be false labour pain, she was admitted to the labour room.
It was only at 9.30 pm that the NEIGRIHMS authorities got a call from the Civil Hospital, where the lady’s husband was admitted, to inform them that he had tested positive and that his wife might also be positive.
It was then that the pregnant lady was kept in the isolation ward. “Thankfully the lady and her child are both healthy”, the doctors informed.
However, the doctors wonder as to how the lady had not downloaded the Aarogya Setu App which is compulsory for all returnees and because of which they can be tracked if they break quarantine protocols. They feel that the state government should be stricter about returnees under home quarantine.
