Covid-19 patients abstain from taking food, medicines citing Ramzan fast

The Ghaziabad health department officials found themselves in a fix after 15 patients in an L-1 category Covid-19 hospital in Muradnagar abstained from having any

The Ghaziabad health department officials found themselves in a fix after 15 patients in an L-1 category Covid-19 hospital in Muradnagar abstained from having any food and medicines, saying that they would be observing fast during the month of Ramzan, which is currently underway.

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The dedicated Covid-19 hospital is a L1 category facility at Muradnagar, where patients are kept for treatment. Hospital superintendent Dr GP Mathuria said, on Saturday evening, that 13 out of 15 patients had no food till Saturday evening.

“At least 15 patients at our hospital told us that they will be on fast during the Ramazan. However, we served them food and medicines. Only two of them accepted the food and medicines, while 13 others refused both. We told them that proper food and diet are needed for the treatment to be effective,” Dr Mathuria said.

“We have communicated the issue to the chief medical officer(CMO) and also took up counselling of the patients. We told them if they abstain from having food, their immunity will be compromised and recovery will be difficult. Till Saturday evening, 13 of the patients did not take any food or medicine. However two others have told us that they will try to pursue the rest to take their food and medicines,” he added.

CMO Dr NK Gupta said that the patients must understand that proper food and medicine are necessary for treatment. “If they don’t take proper food, we cannot give them medicines on an empty stomach. Proper diet and medicines are required for recovery. If they continue to refuse food, we will call counsellors and their religious leaders to talk to them,” CMO Dr Gupta said.

More cases reported in Ghaziabad and Noida

Meanwhile. Sudhir Garg, UP principal secretary (forest), who has been sent as special officer to Ghaziabad, directed the health department officials to prepare a proposal for setting up a testing laboratory in Ghaziabad.

“He has asked proposals from senior health department officials and said that the district should have a laboratory in order to expedite the process of Covid19 testing. He has also asked officials to coordinate with private labs so that testing can be expedited,” said a district administration spokesperson.

Till Saturday evening, one more case turned positive in Ghaziabad taking the tally of Covid-19 positive patients to 53. “The patient is from Indirapuram who is a doctor. Out of 53 cases, 17 patients have been discharged so far,” CMO Dr Gupta said.

The officials in Noida said on Saturday that there were three more cases of Coronavirus in Gautam Buddh Nagar district. With the new additions, the total cases stand at 112 till Saturday evening.

The officials said that the three patients include a 38-year-old man from Sector 80, who had attended the programme at the Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi; a 28-year-old employee of a hotel in Sector 18 that has been used as a paid quarantine facility by the district health department, and a 20-year-old man from Sector 45 who worked as a cook at a private hospital in Sector 19.

Meanwhile, Amit Mohan Prasad, UP’s principal secretary (health), on Saturday, said that the chief minister has stressed on infection prevention at government as well as private hospitals.

“The CM has called for the formation of a committee in every district, which will be headed by additional CMO and other officials including those from UP pollution control board. The committee will conduct inspection of hospitals to see that infection prevention protocols are being followed. They will also conduct on site training of staff besides the audit of hospitals. Every hospital will also to form a similar committee,” Prasad said, adding that most of the cases in the present times were emerging from infections in hospitals.

The Ghaziabad administration officials, on Saturday, said that they have come up with a quarantine centre at ABES College, which will be used for housing 51 workers who are expected to arrive from Haryana soon.

“We have about 2,204 workers who have arrived from Haryana in 82 buses. About 11,000 more will arrive on Sunday. They have completed 14 days quarantine in Haryana and will be kept at quarantine centres in their respective districts. Proper food and other arrangements have been made for them,” said Awanish Awasthi, UP’s additional chief secretary (home).

Till Saturday evening, the tally of hotspots in UP stood at 389 with 6,24,978 identified houses having a population of 35.78 lakh living in them. The hotpots, officials said, house about 1,373 Covid-19 patients out of the total 1,778 identified till Saturday evening.