Following IMCT's letter, West Bengal sets deadline for generating Covid-19 test results
Kolkata/IBNS: Hours after the MHA's Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) deployed in Kolkata had questioned the delay in generation of Covid-19 test reports, West Bengal government on Friday night instructed state health machinery to ensure the final test results within 12 hours from the sample collection, officials said.
Issuing a set of 11 instructions, West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha directed his health officials: "It must be ensured that time taken between the collection of sample and final result is around 12 hours."
After visiting a government quarantine facility at Chittaranjan National Cancer Instute (CNCI) in Rajarhat and M.R. Bangur Covid hospital, the chief of IMCT in Kolkata, Apurva Chandra, wrote to Bengal CS, questioning the delay in generating Covid-19 test results.
"There were a large number of patients in the isolation wards of CNCI as well as M.R. Bangur hospital awaiting Covid test results for five days or longer," IMCT chief Apurva Chandra wrote in a letter to CS.
"Specifically at CNCI, there were four patients since Apr 16 awaiting test result, two since Apr 17, and three since Apr 18," Apurva Chandra wrote.
Meanwhile, after a footage of bodies lying unattended for hours inside the isolation ward of M.R. Bangur hospital went viral on social media and the IMCT had questioned about it, Chief Secretary instructed to shift dead bodies from the wards immediately after death.
"Dead bodies should be immediately shifted from the wards maintaining all protocols," Rajiva Sinha directed.
Saying that it will show zero tolerance towards any report of inconvenience of public in government hospitals, the state has instructed government-run hospitals and medical colleges not to refuse treatment to any patient.
"In case of referral, patient should be invariably provided with ambulance support," the Chief Secretary directed.
All doctors at OPD/emergency wards have been directed to compulsorily wear protective gear as per protocol while it has been also instructed to maintain utmost cleanliness and sanitisation at all health facilities, including the places where doctors sit and change.
"Special attention on M.R. Bangur with provision of all required infrastructure and support, and senior officers from Swasthya Bhawan should visit medical colleges and hospitals regularly," the instruction letter read.
In its letter, the IMCT had also questioned about the reported violation of social distancing at M.R. Bangur hospital's waiting area and inadequate arrangements of ventilators at the Covid hospital in south Kolkata.
Meanwhile, another Central team, which has been deployed in Siliguri, sent a letter to Chief Secretary on Friday, suggesting stricter implementation of lockdown and larger deployment of field officers in north Bengal to contain the spread of novel coronavirus.
However, both the IMCTs claimed that they had not received any response to their letters from the state government yet.
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