Amid intense efforts by Health officials to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the State, a hush-hush task was taken up last Wednesday. Samples from two young family members of a Telangana political leader were collected from their home, in what is a clear violation of protocol.
The duo in question had travelled to Dubai in February. Sources said at least three persons were sent in a vehicle on Wednesday to collect the sample from the suspected patients’ house on the city outskirts. Officials in the know heaved a sigh of relief when the samples collected from them tested negative the following day.
Usually, if a person has travel history to any of the virus-affected countries such as China and Italy, and show symptoms such as fever, cold, cough, they are admitted to isolation wards of Gandhi Hospital. People are also isolated if they have been in contact with a suspected patient. Thereafter, their swab samples are collected and sent for tests at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) laboratory at Gandhi Medical College.
Last week, the State government granted permission to some private hospitals, too, to isolate patients, collect samples and send them to the laboratory for tests.
“In this case, samples were collected by going to their home. Why was the staff sent there rather than having them admitted to the isolation ward? Why was protocol not followed in case of VIPs? If we look at the situation in another way, this is a missed chance to set an example that even family members of influential people opt for government hospitals for treatment. Not just that, there are other aspects in containment of COVID-19 that need corrections,” a source said.
