PURI: The Puri administration confronted a moral dilemma on Wednesday after a coronavirus patient refused to part with his three-year-old daughter during his admission to the local Covid hospital. The kid had tested negative.
The district health officials found themselves caught between compassion and duty as the infected father pleaded to keep his daughter with him in the hospital. The girl’s mother, who tested positive earlier, is undergoing treatment in a hospital at Bhubaneswar.
The three-member family from VIP Road area of the Puri town was leading a happy life till the mother developed symptoms and tested positive for the virus a couple of days back. While she was taken to a Covid hospital in the State Capital, swab samples of her husband and three-year-old daughter were collected and sent for tests.
When the test reports arrived, it was found that the father too had been infected while the kid tested negative. Accordingly, health officials decided to admit the patient to Puri Covid hospital. However, they were faced with a conflicting situation after the man refused to leave his daughter since there was no one to look after her.
The authorities wanted another test of the girl but the father vehemently objected and kept his daughter with him in the Covid hospital. Despite counselling, he was adamant and said his daughter cannot live without him, sources said. The health authorities then informed child welfare officer Manoj Tripathy about the situation.
Tripathy said, a child welfare team met the girl and found her healthy. Though she is not showing any symptoms of Covid-19, she might be asymptomatic.
“We provided baby food, dolls, biscuits and chocolates to the girl and counselled her so that she remains happy in the hospital,” he added.
Despite repeated calls, the chief district medical officer and in-charge of the Covid hospital did not respond.