Harrowing tales from Tamil Nadu’s hinterland – Times of India

May 15 turned out to be a nightmare for G Mithun, 41, of Krishnagiri town. It was only two days ago that his 37-year-old younger brother’s oxygen levels dropped to 65 and he managed to get a bed in Krishnagiri government hospital after much struggle. But, much to his shock, the oxygen mask provided in the hospital was damaged and the gas was leaking.
Mithun says neither did the hospital staff provide an alternative mask nor was his offer to buy an oxygen mask was entertained. It was only after the issue was taken to the district collector V Jaya Chandra Bhanu Reddy when he came to the hospital for inspection, the hospital staff replaced the damaged one with a new oxygen mask.
Government hospitals in smaller towns and semi urban areas overflow with such tales of sufferings when the state’s rural hinterland is witnessing a surge in Covid cases.
There are barely any beds left in government hospitals in tier 3 cities and small towns. The number of doctors and nurses are highly disproportionate to the number of Covid patients in these hospitals. Mithun said one nurse served at least 10 patients in the covid ward of Krishnagiri GH.
The conditions prevailing in government hospitals are panicking Covid patients, said a relative of an elderly Covid patient in Ramanathapuram government hospital. He alleged attendants of the patients are forced to be in close proximity due to space shortage.
In Trichy, a total of 154 doctors and 150 regular staff nurses and 72 staff nurses on contractual basis have been overstretched to manage ten government hospitals in the district. “Three doctors at Thuvakudi GH turned positive for Covid-19 today. Remaining staff are on multiple shifts,” said a doctor.
This at a time when rural and semi urban areas are reporting a spike in cases. Tirupur, for instance, has reported a sharp spike in cases as the spinning mills and garment units in the district have turned into micro clusters. The district jumped from 800 cases a day to more than 1500 cases daily for the past two days.
In Coimbatore district, the number of cases in rural areas has increased from 30 % a week ago, to 41 % now as scores of people from remote villages and tribal hamlets have been reporting positive cases. The trend shows that cases first spread from core city to peripheries and then to suburban areas and then to villages,” said a health officer.
Test positivity rate (TPR) is among the highest in the state in few rural and semi – urban districts. While Kanyakumari and Theni reported a TPR of 26 %, higher than Chennai (23), Tuticorin and Ramnathapuram followed with 24% TPR as of May 15. Except for Tuticorin these districts had been reporting lesser TPR. But steadily cases shot up like a village in Ariyalur, where 21 people on a street tested positive the same day.
(With inputs from Padmini Sivarajah and R Gokul)