In a case that shows how fear of COVID-19 is making medical care difficult to access for those with other ailments, the staff nurse and a ‘D’ Group employee at Kukanur Community Health Centre (CHC) in Yalaburga taluk, Koppal district, refused to attend to a patient who was presumed to have symptoms of the viral infection.
In the intervening hours between Monday and Tuesday, Rudrayya Basayya Salimath, 20, a resident of Channappanahalli village located about two km from the CHC, developed severe abdomen pain and breathlessness. He was brought to the State-run health facility around 12.30 a.m. His attenders told the staff that the patient “might have been infected with COVID-19” and requested them to quickly attend to him.
But the very mention of COVID-19 resulted in the staff quickly moving away from the patient. They then began advising the attenders to immediately take him to the district hospital in their private vehicle.
The staff also videographed the entire episode, which has since gone viral. The video shows the two caretakers struggling to handle the patient rolling on the ground in pain, while the nurse is heard advising them from a distance.
Taking serious note of the incident, Koppal Deputy Commissioner P. Sunil Kumar said that he would initiate action against the staff who refused to attend to the patient. “It was a simple case of stomach pain. But the staff nurse on duty complicated it. It was taken to be a case of COVID-19. I have asked for a detailed report, based on which action would be taken against the nurse,” he said.
Manjunath, Taluk Health and Family Welfare Officer, said that the patient was later taken to the district hospital in a government ambulance. “He got better before he reached the hospital. Now he is fine. The staff nurse on duty should have informed the night-duty doctor about the case instead of refusing to treat the patient and advising his caretakers to shift him to the district hospital. We are enquiring and will submit a report shortly,” told The Hindu.
Mr. Majunath clarified that the CHC had been provided with five Personal Protection Kits to handle the COVID-19 patients. He also added that the duty-doctor who was supposed to be in the hospital on night duty was not in there when the patient was brought. “People are in a state of panic and they tend to attribute even common cold, cough and breathlessness to COVID-19,” he said.
