Bandipora, Mar 25 (KNO): The 22-year-old B. Tech student from Bandipora who was tested positive from COVID-19 was allegedly mishandled by the authorities in Bandipora and Baramulla as well, sources said.
According to wire service-Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the 22-year-old student was mishandled by the authorities from the day he arrived in Kashmir from Andra Pradesh where is pursuing his studies.
Sources said that when he had arrived at Srinagar airport 0n 22nd March, he was ferried to Baramulla as his father is working in health department and is posted in Sopore. “He was later quarantined in GMC Baramulla and his sample was taken on 23rd March, which was sent to Srinagar for testing. On 24th of March he was taken to Bandipora after Medical Superintendent GMC Baramulla informed the officials in Bandipora that the person be taken to Bandipora and quarantined there,” they said.
Medical Superintendent GMC Baramulla Dr. Syed Masood Bukhari told KNO that he had informed the officials in Bandipora that a patient from Bandipora has been quarantined here and be taken to Bandipora and quarantined there only.
However, as per SOP, any person who has been quarantined and his/her sample has been taken for testing shall not be ferried to another place till his test report is not clear. But in this case there seems to be a clear violation of the guidelines as some serious lapses have been made in handling the case.
When asked about informing the officials in Bandipora that the patient’s sample has already been taken for testing, Dr. Masood said that he had informed the Chief Medical Officer Bandipora telephonically and he had also mentioned on discharge certificate of the patient that his samples have been taken for the testing.
He said that he is saying this on record that he had informed the officials in Bandipora that the patient’s sample has already been taken for the testing. Interestingly, the medical superintendent refused to share the copy of discharge certificate on which “he had mentioned that patient’s sample has been taken for testing.”
He said that the patient was quarantined in GMC Baramulla on 22nd March and his samples were taken on 23rd March to Srinagar for testing and the report came on 24th March, which was positive. Chief Medical Officer Bandipora Dr. Tajamul denied the claims made by MS GMC Bandipora that he had informed them that the patient’s sample has already been collected for testing.
“Medical superintendent has totally lied because he never informed us that the patient’s sample has already been collected. Had he informed us we would have acted accordingly. We would not have brought the patient to Bandipora,” he said.
He said that Medical Superintendent informed them that a person from Bandipora is under quarantine at GMC Baramulla and he should be taken to Bandipora and be quarantined there only but he didn’t mentioned anything about patient’s samples. “On 24th march when the MS told me that the person be taken to Bandipora for quarantine purpose I asked BMO Bandipora to get the person from Baramulla. The person was not a patient for me he was traveler for me because I was not informed by MS GMC Baramulla that they have collected his samples for testing,” he said.
He said that had the MS informed us about the sampling thing we would have acted accordingly but he bluffed us. “On the same day the MS called me and said that the person be brought back to Baramulla but he didn’t reveal that his test report has come. Later in the evening when the patient was taken to Baramulla, he called me again and said the person has tested positive,” Dr. Tajamul told KNO.
He said that later in the evening it came to fore that the person has been tested positive for COVID-19 and till then they had no idea about it because the MS lied and bluffed them. Interestingly, the person was ferried to and fro Baramulla in an official vehicle not in ambulance. When asked about why the patient was not taken in ambulance, the CMO said this is a crisis situation so we had to arrange an official vehicle and took him to and fro Baramulla with proper protection. “The BMO was wearing full protective gear and so was the driver of the vehicle. We had taken all precautionary measures,” he said.
He also said that the situation is under control and they were also now tracing the contacts of the patient in Bandipora after he was reported positive. “We have already traced some and are tracing others as well,” he said. Director health services Kashmir Dr. Sumir did not respond to repeated calls from this reporter—(KNO)