About 100 staff, doctors and nurses stranded within the ZHRC campus
Morung Express News
Dimapur| April 16
Amid the COVID-19 scare, healthcare workers now face a whole new battle—stigma.
Despite repeated assurances and advisories both from the government and doctors, people are gripped by the fear of the pandemic. Reports were received about healthcare workers being ostracized after the first case was reported from Nagaland on April 12.
Incidents involving staff of the private hospital which the patient visited initiallywere highlighted over the following days after the news broke. There were cases of the hospital staff being told to leave their rented houses and localities in fear of them being ‘infected’ and spreading the disease to others. Fallout was also reported in a colony in Dimapur about a staff of ZHRC whose family had been evicted and sent to quarantine facilities.
It was also learnt through various sources that medical officers and staff were being harassed to get themselves and their families tested for COVID 19 and furnish results of the test.
While the matters stand ‘resolved’, a statement from the hospital authority on April 16 stated that there are about 100 staff, doctors and nurses stranded within the hospital campus due to stigmatization by different colonies in and around Dimapur.
There are 12 patients along with the hospital staff inside the hospital premise. Due to shortage of doctors, the hospital management has also temporarily discontinued its emergency department. While those who were in direct contact with the COVID-19 patient have been quarantined and decontamination measures have been taken up, even those who did not come in contact with the COVID-19 patient are unable to come in to work because of movement restrictions in their respective colonies, according to sources.
The nurses at the hospital are working 12-hour shifts at the moment. The doctors from the COVID centre in Dimapur have collected samples of the patients and once the results arrive, those in the clear can be discharged, Dr Atsung of ZHRC informed.
Helping hands
In the wake of these incidents, some sections of the society have come to the rescue of the healthcare workers. According to a senior doctor of ZHRC, the hospital has received help from all walks of life. Donations from well wishers in kind have helped address their need for food supplies in the hospital for the time being. The hospital is also catering to food requirements of the patients.
“We received a lot of assistance from well wishers. Many people have donated bags of rice, eggs, dal and fruits,” Dr Atsung told The Morung Express on Thursday. A pig was also reportedly donated by a lady in Dimapur to those stranded in ZHRC. We do not have any shortage of food at present, he said.
DC Dimapur issues caution
Meanwhile, taking note of the reports of harassment, Deputy Commissioner Dimapur on Thursday directed the village councils/colony chairman and all concerned to ensure that people working in the frontline are honoured and respected.
“It has been reported that some villages are barring entry to medical personnel, persons on emergency duty in the wake of COVID-19 and also staffs and patients of Zion hospital Dimapur,” the DC’s statement said.
In this regard, the district administration Dimapur, cautioned that strict action would be initiated as per provision of Disaster Management Act 2005 and Legal action under Section 188 of IPC against those violating the containment measures.
