Karnataka: Officials plead with patients to go to Covid care centres

BENGALURU: With hesitancy all around, doctors, health workers and police officials are lining up before recalcitrant Covid-19 patients, pleading with them – often with folded hands and on their knees – to follow instructions.
Doctors and police say government guidelines prevent them from using force. The new approach is being done in full public glare for maximum impact.It’s usually being used to get patients to stay indoors or to move to Covid Care Centres.
It’s uphill task. In some places, even tahsildars and executive officers of taluk panchayats are joining taluk task force members in the exercise. On Thursday, a task force team comprising the tahsildar, executive officer, taluk medical officer among others visited Bavarahalli, Bangarpet taluk, Kolar district, where five infected patients were refusing to get admitted to a CCC.
The patients claimed the facilities at CCCs were abysmal and they have separate rooms for isolation at home. Dr Saraswathi, district health officer, explained to the five about the facilities at the CCC and officials tried hard to persuade them to move. When all efforts failed, tahsildar Dayananda M asked his team members to plead with the patients with folded hands. The five patients finally relented and fell in line. Dayananda told TOI since force can’t be used, authorities have their task cut out. He said people are being swayed by adverse reports about lack of facilities at CCCs. The stigma attached to the disease is adding to the problem.
Similar scenes have been reported from many parts of the state for the past couple of weeks. Videos of government officials pleading with patients are being widely shared on social media. Dr Eshwar Savadi, chief medical officer, government hospital, Gangavathi, Koppal district, told TOI they face resistance not only from patients, but also their family members. One video shows Dr Savadi and his team pleading with a patient to get admitted to a hospital.
“Infected people don’t want to get admitted in hospitals or CCCs because they are not serious about the disease,” Dr Savadi said. “Many believe they can treat themselves at home. We have encountered innumerable situations where family members of patients argue with us saying the patient can be treated at home.”
A senior police officer from Dharwad said: “We didn’t have to plead like this during the first wave. Now, sensational news reports on deaths are playing on patients’ minds. People believe that if they go to hospital, they won’t get quality treatment.”