Ujjain: A sensational incident has come to fore in which the members Rapid Response Team (RRT) conducted ‘home’ sampling of first contact family persons of a corona-positive patient on an open platform and that too outside the limits of containment area.
Audacious selfishness and travesty of their call of duty shown by the members of RRT in Paandariba locality of the Old City has attracted a lot of controversy as a video of their act was widely circulated over the social media.
RRT members on Wednesday afternoon reportedly conducted the sampling of seven members of a family.
“The staff concerned reached the locality in afternoon in a car and prioritising their own convenience asked all the seven members of the patient’s family to come for screening to their location- which was outside the containment area.
They then took samples of the swab of the patient’s kin while making them sit on an open platform situated over a drain,” a resident of the area disclosed to Free Press while producing video clip and photos of the incident.
He also informed that when the family members expressed inability to bring an old-aged woman to the spot due on health grounds, the members of RRT team remain adamant and forced the family to bring her to the platform for sample collection.
Sources informed that a man of the family-in-question, was found corona-positive on May 17 and was admitted to the RD Gardi Medical College. He and his brother are priests in an ancient and famous temple of Ujjain,
Not the first instance
As per reports, similar type of incident also occurred in Begampura locality on May 18 when the RRT members reached there for sampling work as 17 residents were found Corona positive and the administration notified it as a containment area.
That time too heated arguments ensued between the RRT members and policemen on duty as the former wanted to conduct the sampling outside the containment area and under the police tent, but it was not allowed which reportedly led to verbal duel between RRT in-charge and CSP.
Such attitude will spoil work of corona warriors
With Paandariba’s incident, people have started talking about the carelessness of the health department. They also expressed a fear that such type of lackadaisical attitude of the health department may render the good work of other corona warriors futile and may aid in spreading the coronavirus outbreak across the city.
Against the set protocol
When contacted, a senior health officer admitted that such types of incidents are against the set protocols of pandemic. “RRT members wearing PPE kits are supposed to visit the homes of Covid-19 positive patients to take the samples of first contact persons of his or her family. They should take the body temperature of the members in the household and should enquire about any other disease. Then they should also observe that if anybody of them bears symptoms identical to dreaded virus. They should refer person showing corona symptoms to PTS and if his or her age is above 60 years they should immediately admit them in RD Gardi Medical College,” the officer added.
