Fear of getting infected by the novel coronavirus and lack of public transport is still keeping away the majority of patients from the hospitals and clinics, doctors and officials have said.

Patients are either cancelling or deferring planned surgeries and appointments. Many patients whom doctors have advised tests prefer to get them done at standalone centres instead of going to a hospital, according to doctors.

Several private hospitals were reluctant to treat Covid-19 positive patients in the initial days of the outbreak. They were worried that other patients would avoid their hospitals for fear of getting infected.

Later, the state government, through the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission, urged private hospitals to have dedicated units for Covid-19 patients and later pressed them to increase the number of beds.

Many Calcuttans are trying to find out which healthcare unit in the city is a “non-Covid” hospital or does not have a dedicated unit to treat such patients before getting their relatives admitted there.

A man was supposed to undergo cardiac surgery this Tuesday. When an employee of the hospital where the surgery had been scheduled called him last week for confirmation, he said his relatives had advised him against getting admitted to the hospital because it had many Covid patients.

“Several cancer patients whom I recently advised PET-CT Scan or MRI told me they would get the tests done from standalone centres instead of going to a hospital,” surgical oncologist Gautam Mukhopadhyay said.

“The patients and their relatives said they were sacred of getting infected with the Covid-19 virus in a hospital,” Mukhopadhyay said.

A private hospital’s CEO said there was fear among some doctors, hospital employees and patients. The fear has prevented the healthcare system to return to normality.

Many people have the misconception of a non-Covid hospital, according to doctors and officials of various hospitals.

“Recently, a snakebite patient came to us with no Covid symptoms. We did a test for Covid-19 as part of a mandatory process and the results were positive,” Gandharv Roy, COO of Medica Superspecialty Hospital, said.

“This misconception has prevented many people from undergoing treatment; often for critical diseases, too. The number of overall admissions and regular surgeries has dropped,” Roy said.

Footfall figures at OPDs in most private hospitals have hardly been more than 25 per cent a week after lockdown restrictions were eased.

Neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh and Bhutan, apart from districts and other states, account for the chunk of patients at these hospitals.

The number has been close to 150 for Belle Vue Clinic and the hospital’s ophthalmology unit. Usually, the hospital has close to 500 patients every day on average, according to officials.

RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Mukundapur has close to 1,000 patients at its OPDs every day. The number had dipped to 10 with the announcement of the lockdown. Now, it is close to 250.

“Restrictions have been eased significantly but the number of patients is nowhere close to our usual numbers,” R. Venkatesh, regional director, east, Narayana Health, said.

The Mukundapur hospital is the group’s flagship unit.

“Based on our experience, patients are either not able to come because of limited or no availability of transport, including trains, or for fear of contracting Covid-19 at the hospital,” he said.

During video consultations with doctors, patients have expressed their inability to visit the hospital for surgeries.

Some hospital and clinics have cited lack of transport as another problem.

A private clinic in south Calcutta has had every one of five patients cancelling their appointments, saying they cannot reach on time.

Now, hospitals and clinics are giving appointments at a specific time to ensure distancing rules are followed.