The wife of a CISF employee of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), who was pregnant, was admitted to the Visakha Steel General Hospital on July 10, after tests indicated that the amniotic fluid level was going down, which could be dangerous to the growing fetus.
The fetal scan was taken on a daily basis and in the meantime a screening test revealed that the woman was COVID-19 positive. Though she was taken to various COVID hospitals in the city, she could not be admitted there, reportedly due to non-availability of beds, according to an INTUC leader of VSP. She was taken back to the Steel General Hospital as her bleeding increased.
Gynaecologist G. Sujatha, anaesthetist A. Anant and their team of doctors performed the surgery, despite the COVID threat, in view of the emergency. The baby was was delivered successfully and both the mother and child are safe.
“There is crowding around the scanning facility at VSGH and the woman had to undergo scanning several times for five days. She could have contracted the virus there. Though there was a demand for opening of a separate camp at Ukkunagaram for COVID-19 cases, the authorities failed to take action,” according to an employee.
While appreciating the gesture of the medical team of VSGH, the INTUC leader appealed to the VSP management to provide quarantine facilities at the Ukku House for the mother and her baby.
Meanwhile, the Visakha Steel Employees Congress (INTUC) and its allied unions staged a protest at the TTI, observing all COVID-19 guidelines on July 17 alleging that the RINL/VSP had failed to contain the pandemic at the plant and the township.
They demanded among other things: provision of thermo temperature scanners, masks, gloves and sanitisers at all the working areas, symptomatic employees and their dependents should be screened on preferential basis, minimise or adjust the manpower to check the spread of the virus, to implement the insurance scheme of ₹50 lakh announced by the Central government to all the employees of the RINL, to treat the coronavirus death of an employee as Injury on Duty (IOD) and facilitate employment to one of the dependents and to immediately start testing centre and isolation facility at Steel Plant Township.
Later, a memorandum was submitted to the Director (Personnel) of VSP/RINL.
