Mysore/Mysuru: A man from Hebbal, while giving his contact details at a throat and nasal swab collection centre in city, hoodwinked the officials and gave a wrong telephone number. He did this to dodge COVID-19 quarantine and isolation rules.
In his attempt to fool the officers, the man blurted out a phone number that actually belonged to Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar. The official who noted down the phone number too did not realise this and the man was asked to give samples and go home.
The man in question tested positive and the Control Room staff at the DC Office called the phone number that was given by the man to inform him about his COVID positive status. The calling officer was surprised to find the DC himself answering the call.
Abhiram Sankar told SOM this morning, “I was surprised to receive a call from the Control Room where the caller told me that I had tested positive for the virus and was breaching quarantine norms. I told the officer on the other end that I am the DC speaking. The officer told me that the man had given my phone number to dodge rules. I was amused and equally shocked to realise what people can do to avoid quarantine and hospitalisation.”
The DC added that people must realise that providing correct contact information will actually control the spread of the disease. “Here in this case for example, the man gave my phone number. Probably he did not know that this was DC’s number. It is very difficult to trace virus-infected people and their primary and secondary contacts if the contact details are wrong. I appeal to people to desist from these acts and help the District Administration to fight the pandemic,” he said.
DC should also understand that a lot of people are being unnecessarily being sent to Institutional Quarantine instead of being being Quarantined at home. Institutional Quarantine as seen in various reports is an unhygienic environment. Food quality and nutrition is pathetic. You will get more sick here than getting better. The other option is staying in a high end hospital by coughing up a lot of money. Government should allow home Quarantine wherever possible. And if Institutional Quarantine is needed, then high level officials should also be sent to the same facility as Ordinary citizens. There was a news report on 7th of July in Star of Mysore that Vikram hospital was being converted into a Quarantine facility for higher level officials. When you create separate Quarantine facilities for higher level officials and ordinary citizens, you have created this situation yourself.
Dear Editor
The poster above , who was abusive through his words is allowed to post again. block him.
Muralidhar M S has raised very pertinent questions . By no strech of imagination , one can say his post is abusive .If anything , differing opinins are the pillars of a true democracy .
On the other hand , it is the bureaucracy and the police that have become abusive ,accounatble to no one . we have very irrational policies resulting from panic mode thinking .
If the govt facilities for this infection is that good, then why convert private hospitals specially for high level officials?? Put them also in the same facilities as other people and let them also face the kind of filthy wards & toilets. The better solution will be is to provide clean toilets/wards and maybe the govt can charge nominal amounts to the people, who I am sure will not grudge paying for better hygine. Wherever possible govt must prioritise home quarantine as the first option.
There has to be zero tolerance on cyber abuse, and the poster @ M S was guilty of such abuse, and I too complained to the Editor, who should establish a pre-screening post protocol.
Why is @ M S allowed to post, after he spewed out abuses calling names?
@Sridhar As an Indian and a Mysorean, you know the answer for your query: “If the govt facilities for this infection is that good, then why convert private hospitals specially for high level officials??”
The answer is simple. Income for doctors who practised private healthcare in private hospitals, fleecing patients. Now with Corona Virus infection, these doctors have lost income they got from treating other illnesses. Hence, they must have lobbied hard, and got the Vikram hospital readied for treatment for so called VIPs. There is an article from Dr Nayeem in SOM here, boasting this MAHAN, without honestly saying why it was set up. It is to help doctors like him (MDs)to get income as other means of income have dried up.
The state government, you should have guessed, is funding this in the name of front line doctors etc,.. unlike in Western countries, , these front line doctors will be just junior doctors, final year MBBS students etc.. who take the Virus hit, and not the so called MDs, but they will pocket the money. In this Corona Virus game, every MD has become a specialist in the treatment of infections!
The above is the nutshell of the private hospital initiative.
Any Mysorean should have guessed that the funding will be in crores for the above.
About your reference to VIPs: The real VIPs are Ministers, MLAs and senior government officials. Except the DC and the MCC commissioner, there will be NO senior officials in Mysuru. They will be in Bengaluru, where despite the Virus peak, they get better treatment in a few good private hospitals there. Ministers and MLAs too will be in Bengaluru. After the Virus spread has abated, they will go abroad for check ups.
Hello
Initiatives like Vikram Hospitals for VIPs, do not need patients. They just need a list of doctors-the so called specialists listed to treat patients . The income flows in!
This is independent India! Jai Hind!!
Home quarantine? With lockdowns and other restrictions, how do those quarantined at home with their relatives get their groceries? They have to eat!
In all European countries, priority delivery arrangements were made for the supermarkets to deliver groceries to homes of quarantined people, once these supermarkets received the on-line grocery orders. In Mysuru, no way! This is third world India, where only VIPs matter!! This is independent India! Jai Hind!!