At a time when Sundargarh has turned out to be a Covid-19 hotspot district with rising number of positive cases reported every day, quacks continue to rule the roost in the worst affected regionamidst the pandemic situation.Two days after police detained a quack, Sudarshan Singh, at Pancharaunder Kutra block in the district and sealed his clinic, the localadministration sealed another clinic named Biswas Medical Storelocated in Kutra main market on Tuesday.
Claiming to be a doctor, the clinic owner, a resident of Kolkata, isaccused of providing traditional treatment to people in the area over the last 30 years. He is also accused of admitting patients to his clinic during theprevailing Covid-19 situation. Acting on several complaints, a jointteam led by Kutra police station IIC Sushant Kumar Parida andTehsildar Rabindra Sethy conducted a raid and detained the accused.
“While people in large numbers are getting infected with the diseaseby the day, quacks and ‘fake’ doctors are taking advantage of thecrisis in rural areas of the district. Many people with flu-likesymptoms like cold, cough and fever also opt to visit quacks fortreatment due to lack of awareness,” said a local.The traditional healers, instead of advising them to undergo Covidtest, prescribe them various medicines meant for typhoid, which is oneof the reasons behind the rise in cases in the area, he alleged.