The Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), which inspected healthcare facilities at two dedicated Covid hospitals in Kolkata, has found major anomalies in the existing system like waiting time of five days or more for test results of patients in isolation wards putting even negative ones at risk; bodies lying on the beds of the ward for four long hours while a death certificate is being prepared; and no social distancing being maintained during “chaotic” patient admission process thus increasing the risk of spread of the infection among others.
The IMCT has also sought explanation on the methodology used by State-appointed ‘Committee of Doctors’ to ascertain deaths due to Covid-19 amid suspicions over West Bengal’s coronavirus data. It has written two separate letters to the West Bengal Chief Secretary in this regard and also apprised the Ministry of Home Affairs of the situation.
In his letters, Apurva Chandra, head of the IMCT, sought the State government’s clarification on these observations and further details on its testing capability besides whether all those persons who returned to Kolkata from abroad till March 8 were tested and were found negative.
The team had visited CNCI (Chitranjan National Cancer Institute) and M R Bangur hospitals in Kolkata on Thursday.
“There were a large number of patients in isolation wards of CNCI as well as Bangur hospital awaiting Covid-19 test results for five days or longer. It is not clear why the test results should take such a long time and there is a danger of Covid-19 negative patient acquiring the infection in the hospital while awaiting his test result.
“The patient admission at Bangur hospital appears to be chaotic. There was no social distancing in the waiting area. Two patients appear to be in very poor health but there was no medical support available,” he said.
Though patients from other hospitals are referred to the Bangur facility, the IMCT head noted, “However, it seems the patients are left on their own to report to the hospital and are not escorted. This would always leave scope for some patients not turning up or delaying reporting to the hospital”.
The team noted that there were only 12 ventilators at Bangur hospital while it caters to 354 serious Covid-19 patients. To this, the hospital authorities informed the team that in case a ventilator is not available and ventilator support is required for a patient, the patient is transferred to some other facilities.
Following social media reports that dead bodies were lying on beds in a ward, the IMCT enquired about the matter and found that “it is possible that dead bodies were lying on bed in a ward as it takes at least four hours to issue a death certificate, after which the body is shifted to a mortuary”. The State Government has been asked to furnish records in this regard.
On the State Government’s claim that number of tests having gone up from around 400 per day to 900 per day, the IMCT sought details like how many of these are repeat tests and how many are first time patients. It suggested the State to conduct 2,500 to 5,000 tests a day.
In a separate letter regarding the methodology, the IMCT asked the State chief secretary to explain the methodology used by a Committee of Doctors appointed by the West Bengal government to ascertain whether the deaths being reported are due to coronavirus.
The IMCT asked whether the methodology adopted by the state panel is in line with what has been laid down by the ICMR and sought an interaction with the Committee of Doctors to understand their methodology. It also asked if such a committee exists for any other disease in the state. The team further asked about the time taken by the Committee to reach a conclusion whether a patient died of the virus.