Two senior doctors from Calcutta reached Siliguri on Thursday on the instructions of chief minister Mamata Banerjee and held meetings with local health department officials to discuss ways to treat Covid-19 patients and those suspected to be infected by the virus.
Dr Abhijit Chowdhury, a member of the global advisory board constituted by the state, and Dr G.K. Dhali, landed at Bagdogra in a chopper and proceeded to Uttarkanya, the branch secretariat of the state government, where they met health department officials. They later went to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH).
“Patients who have symptoms of Covid-19 should first visit the Medica North Bengal Clinic (a private nursing home at Pradhannagar in Siliguri) where they will be treated. Their swabs will be tested at NBMCH. Those found positive will be shifted to Dr Chhang’s Super Speciality Hospital (another private nursing home at Himachal Bihar of Matigara in Siliguri), while those who test negative for the virus will be treated at other facilities. No corona patient or suspected patient will be treated at NBMCH,” Chowdhury said after the meeting at Uttarkanya.
The decision, sources said, has been taken to ensure that NBMCH continues to function as the principal referral hospital in north Bengal. “It will cater to all other patients except those infected with the novel coronavirus,” a source said.
Chowdhury said Dhali, a senior doctor at SSKM Hospital in Calcutta, would be in Siliguri for at least a couple of weeks to monitor healthcare facilities at NBMCH and the two private nursing homes that have been earmarked for Covid-19 patients and suspects.
“He will also coordinate with the state government. The state is taking all essential steps to combat this disease and also to protect our doctors, nurses and other health workers. Those who need to be sent to quarantine have been sent. People should refrain from spreading rumours,” Chowdhury added.
“We have all necessary facilities for the treatment of Covid-19 patients in north Bengal. What we need to do is to make the arrangements properly so that the situation can be dealt with in a better manner,” he said.
