COVID Mismanagement: People Frustrated With ‘Insensitive’ Covid Call Centres In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The alleged insensitivity of hospital authorities in providing health information of Covid-19 patient to their relatives seems to be adding to the woes of people in Odisha with instances of kins of Covid victims getting repeated calls from hospital help desks claiming that the patients are doing well coming to fore from across the State.

As per reports, 55-year-old Gopal Pandey from Bargarh district was admitted to a COVID hospital in the district on April 27, 2021. However, Gopal died while undergoing treatment the very next day. Just four days after his death, on May 3, a phone call came for Gopal on his relative’s number from the COVID hospital where he was admitted asking him about Gopal’s well-being.

Gopal’s relative kept patience in that tough time and disconnected the call. A man from the COVID call centre called him again on the next day (May 4) and told him the same thing about Gopal. However, this time around, his relative could not hold back and complained about the call. However, he again got a call from COVID help line on May 5 and the same thing was repeated.

“Even though I repeatedly told them that he (Gopal) has passed away, they continued to call. This is the height of insensitiveness. I have been subjected to mental harassment by the authorities,” rued the relative of Pandey.

Admitting the lapses, the district Collector of Bargarh, Jyotiranjan Pradhan said, “There are some problems with the database management. It has already been brought to our notice and we will take corrective measures soon.”

In another such instance of alleged COVID mismanagement, the family of Akhil Nayak from Dhadipani village under Shukruli block of Mayurbhanj district was forced to lodge an FIR to receive information about his health who was under treatment at Tato COVID Care centre. Nayak was initially admitted to Karanjia hospital after his health deteriorated on May 3. Subsequently, he was sent to a COVID hospital at Tato after he was tested positive.

Ranjit Nayak, son of Akhil said, “We have been calling at the help desk number provided by the hospital but they are not picking up our calls.”

In Keonjhar, body of a COVID patient was found on a road just metres away from the COVID hospital he was admitted to. As per reports, Hrishikesh Sahu from Telkoi was admitted to a hospital after testing positive on May 11. However, his body was found lying in front of the hospital gate after some time.

Speaking about the incident, Ashish Thakare, the district Collector of Keonjhar said, “This should not have happened. We have taken the matter seriously and a joint inquiry by the Sub-Collector and the SDPO of Keonjhar Sadar has been ordered.”