BHUBANESWAR : At a time when Capital city's COVID count continues to rise and those testing positive are encouraged to choose home isolation to reduce stress on the health infrastructure, poor provisioning for the patients as well as their counselling by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is not helping the cause.
Asymptomatic or patients with mild symptoms in non-slum areas have been allowed to opt for home isolation, provided they have necessary space and facilities at their homes. Currently, close to 200 COVID patients in Bhubaneswar are in home isolation.
However, patients lament that they are not getting proper essential services or psychosocial counselling from the city administration when complete isolation necessitates the same.
A woman patient from Kalinga Vihar opted for home isolation on July 27 but she says her house and the entire building where another family is quarantined have not been disinfected by the civic body despite several requests.
"After testing positive, I received a call from BMC and opted for home isolation. I requested BMC staff to disinfect the house as I have a son who tested negative. But there has been no response," she said, adding that another building in the neighbourhood where a family is in quarantine has also not been sanitised.
She said that counselling provided by BMC has been poor although doctor’s response was good throughout.The woman complained that sourcing essentials remains a concern as BMC instead of providing delivery facility to the patients, has mandated availability of a caretaker in order to stay in home isolation.
A visually-challenged patient and his wife who are in home isolation at GGP Colony lamented that there has been no proper counselling of patients for their mental wellbeing in these difficult times. He also pointed out that the protocol worked out by the civic body for home isolation is also not followed properly.
Norms mandate that BMC inquire about health condition of patients and inspect their houses before allowing them to stay in home isolation. "In my case, the BMC team came to inspect my house and inquired about our health four days after we tested positive," he said.
The couple tested positive on July 25 and remained in home isolation since then. “They came to us on Tuesday after repeated reminders and shared contact number of an ASHA worker to seek help whenever required,” the patient said.
The zonal level officials of BMC chose to maintain silence on the issue.But not everything is gloomy as there are also instances where the civic body has been lauded for prompt response. A family in Dumduma Phase-III appreciated BMC for allowing home isolation and said response from the civic body was quick.
Four members of the family tested positive and are in home isolation since July 26. "We are also getting calls from officials on a daily basis and giving them updates about our health," said one member of the family who works with an IT firm at Chandrasekharpur.