Covid Patients' Attendants Risk Becoming Super Spreaders In Tamil Nadu

On chairs along the corridors were patients and visitors, some resting and some chatting without complying with Covid safety norms at a government hospital in Tamil Nadu

The Tamil Nadu Health Department has ordered Covid hospitals in the state to not let attendants of patients inside isolation wards, a day after NDTV reported them having a free access to Covid patients at government hospitals. This ignores safety protocols and exposes people to heavy viral load. While government hospitals blame it on shortage of doctors and nurses, the hospitals could potentially turn into super spreaders. Inside the Covid block of Rajiv Gandhi Hospital, NDTV managed to walk in a few days ago, the situation was hard to believe. In the ground floor halls where patients are first wheeled into oxygen beds, almost every bed had an attendant, mostly a desperate family member either using a hand fan or feeding patients or speaking to them. Some even sat together on the bed with patients. None of them wore a PPE and did not follow social distancing. The halls on both sides were so crowded with only a few doctors and nurses attending to a few cases. On chairs along the corridors were patients and visitors, some resting and some chatting without complying with Covid safety norms. Though a board at the entrance says "No visitors allowed", it's free for all as the private security guards let almost everyone inside.