Coronavirus: The Barabanki district administration said they are aware of the video
A COVID-19 positive ward boy in a government hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district has posted a video on social media alleging bad conditions at a private hospital in the district that functions as a "Level-1" COVID-19 hospital.
The hospital building was acquired by the state government to function as a dedicated COVID-19 care facility. The ward boy who works at the government hospital in the district's Dewa town was found positive on Monday and admitted to this private hospital.
"I have been here for 16 hours and no staff has come to see me, whether anyone has any problem. Also, others have told me that for six days the isolation ward has not even been disinfected," the ward boy says in the three-minute video that has been shared widely on social media.
"If I have tested positive while serving the country, it is not my responsibility alone," he says.
"I got sampling done 10 times and got a PPE (personal protective equipment) kit only once. I served the Health Department for 10 years and for the last four months haven't taken a day off and done my duty," the ward boy says in the video.
India's coronavirus tally surged to 9.68 lakh cases this morning after 32,695 new patients were registered in the last 24 hours
"I got infected with coronavirus in return. I have no issues but as a Health Department functionary I should have been given basic facilities. I don't know if this is fortune or misfortune, I have faced so many problems in the last 16 hours I cannot even tell you," he says.
The Barabanki district administration said they are aware of the video, but have called it a case of "too many expectations".
"I think this is a case when there are too many expectations which cannot be fulfilled and so one feels bad. He is a ward boy. There is a private chamber next to his ward were a BSA saheb (Education Department officer) is admitted and she has a room. He also wants a room, but every person cannot get a separate room and that is why he must have felt bad," said Dr Ramesh Chandra, Chief Medical Officer of Barabanki.
On Wednesday, another video from the prestigious BRD Medical College and Hospital in Gorakhpur was shared widely on social media. The 24-second video showed a flooded ward where COVID-19 patients were staying.
Another video from the prestigious BRD Medical College and Hospital in Gorakhpur was shared widely on social media
This video was also tweeted by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra with the allegation that this was water from an overflowing drain.
In response, the Gorakhpur district magistrate tweeted a video of the ward after it was cleaned up, saying the ward was flooded due to heavy rain.
India's coronavirus tally surged to 9.68 lakh cases this morning after 32,695 new patients were registered in the last 24 hours in the country's biggest single-day jump in fresh infections, the Health Ministry said. In the last 24 hours, 606 deaths linked to the highly contagious illness were reported, taking the COVID-19 death count to 24,915. About 6.1 lakh patients in the country have recovered so far and the recovery rate stood at 63.25 per cent this morning. India is the third worst-hit country by the pandemic after the United States and Brazil.