The West Bengal health department has prohibited mobile phones in Covid-19 wards in all hospitals, saying that phone surfaces are also potential carriers of novel coronavirus.
The ban has triggered allegations that the move was actually aimed at blocking flow of information from Covid-19 wards about likely mismanagement.
While a section of doctors said that a mobile phone could, indeed, carry the virus if not properly disinfected, another section of doctors said that the ban could adversely affect the Covid-19 patients who are kept in isolation and use the mobile phone a lot to stay occupied.
The instruction was given on Tuesday night by an additional secretary of the health and family welfare department of the state government in a WhatsApp message sent to the district magistrates, chief medical officer of health and superintendents of all Covid-19 hospitals. On Wednesday, a top official of the state’s health administration confirmed that mobile phones were indeed being prohibited.
“Since mobile phones can be a potential source of spreading Covid-19 infection, no one will be allowed to carry, possess or use mobile phones inside the Covid hospitals in the State. This applies to all persons inside the hospital, whether patients or staff on duty. The deposit of patients’ mobile phones may be taken and a receipt may be given to them,” reads the internal message.
“To ensure they have a communication channel to the hospital administration, intercom facility may be provided in the wards. The contact number of the control room or the hospital superintendent/manager should be publicised prominently among the patients. Also, land line arrangements with STD calling be kept ready in case the patient needs to make a call or receive a call from outside,” the message said.
{{/usCountry}}“To ensure they have a communication channel to the hospital administration, intercom facility may be provided in the wards. The contact number of the control room or the hospital superintendent/manager should be publicised prominently among the patients. Also, land line arrangements with STD calling be kept ready in case the patient needs to make a call or receive a call from outside,” the message said.
{{/usCountry}}The instructions added that the hospital staff on duty should be informed of the restrictions on the use and carrying of mobile phones inside the wards and treatment areas. “While implementing this, take all measures for especially ensuring that the patients need for communication with hospital authorities is attended to with due priority,” the instruction said.
Several Covid-19 patients who have recovered said that they had spent their time in isolation watching movies and listening to music on YouTube.
“It is because we listened to Buddhist hymns on YouTube and received positive messages from friends and relatives on WhatsApp that my wife and I were able to deal with the unprecedented situation of contracting this disease, especially at a time when we lost one of our relatives to the disease,” said Dharamnath Singh, 59, a resident of Kalimpong in north Bengal.
Another patient who is at present admitted at the infectious diseases hospital in Kolkata said that making and receiving calls from friends and relatives relieved him of the stress of living in complete isolation in the hospital.
Senior doctor Punyabrata Goon said he suspected the government’s move is aimed at blocking the flow of information from Covid-19 wards.
“Anything, from the mobile phone to watches and purses could be a carrier of the virus. But specifically prohibiting only mobile phones seems to be aimed at blocking flow of information from Covid-19 wards, as in the recent times some video clips emerged from a few Covid wards of hospitals that reflected mismanagement of the authorities,” Goon said.
Incidentally, Central minister Babul Supriyo had shared a video from his Twitter account that allegedly revealed mismanagement at M R Bangur hospital, a Covid-19 hospital in Kolkata.
On Wednesday, Supriyo wrote on Twitter, “Honble @MamataOfficial banning mobiles in hospitals ‘Kind of’ proves that the Bangur Hospital video was not fake -Thank you.”