Angul: The number of COVID-19 positive cases is rapidly increasing in Angul district, more so in the months of September and October. The Rapid Response Team (RRT) has squarely been blamed for not discharging its duties perfectly, a source said.
There are 27 RRTs functioning in eight blocks, two municipalities and one notified area council (NAC). Each team comprises two doctors and four nurses. The responsibilities for these teams start when COVID-19 patients are detected. The teams are supposed to collect the list of patients from the concerned municipalities or block offices. Then they will visit the patients, test their health conditions and decide whether they will go to COVID-19 hospitals or in home isolation.
But it has frequently been alleged that the members of these teams are not even visiting the patients, let alone enquiring about their health conditions. In most cases, they are learnt to have left the home isolation kits meant for the patients on the road instead of delivering them to the patients. So, the brochures are often found not filled up completely. Due to such an attitude of the teams, they often get off on the wrong foot with the patients and their relatives.
Most importantly, these teams are not visiting the home isolation patients, the patients and their relatives are not able to know what precautions the patients and their relatives should take so that the family members cannot contract the virus. As a result, the complaints of family members contracting the virus from the patients are pouring in from across the district.
If this is the situation in the district headquarters, the situation in remote areas can well be imagined, rued a town resident Himanshu Samal, adding, “The team members are doing so because no stringent action has been taken against them.”
In this regard, executive officer, Angul Municipality, Binod Chandra Panda termed the way the teams are handling the situation as unfortunate. The number of patients will decrease only when these teams perform up to the mark. It will also help boost up patients’ will power.
When contacted, chief district medical officer (CDMO) Dr Abhay Kumar Dash said, “The team members have been asked to be careful about their duties or else they will face the music.”
Angul District Collector, Siddharth Shankar Swain, when asked, said he is well aware of the fact that the rapid response teams are not discharging their duties as they should. “The CDMO has been asked to look into the allegations. The doctors and the nurses in the RRTs have been appointed only for COVID-19. So, any negligence would not be tolerated anymore,” he added.
Notably, Angul district Saturday reported 107 fresh COVID-19 cases. With this fresh addition, the district’s tally has gone up to 6,658. Of them, 5,217 patients have already recovered and 1,432 patients are undergoing treatment. The district reported one fatality Saturday, taking the toll to nine.
PNN
