Township residents, including a Covid-19 patient and the primary contact of another patient, have alleged that neither health department nor civic officials have called them though they have spent over a week in home isolation.

The residents have said they are clueless if their family members would be tested for Covid-19. Despite repeated calls to the civic body, he has not received any clear communication from those taking the calls, one of them said.

Public health professionals and state government officials told Metro that daily enquiries on the health status of a home-quarantined person or his/her contact is a good practice but not mandatory in Bengal.

The allegations

A woman in her 30s, whose husband was admitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19, said she had received no calls in more than a week. Her husband had been admitted to hospital on June 18 and since then her ailing in-laws, seven-year-old daughter and she have been in home quarantine.

“I am terrified…. Let alone visiting our house, no doctor has even called us to find out if we have developed any symptoms,” the resident of AL Block in Sector II said.

Another Salt Lake resident, a 70-year-old man who has been in home quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 but with mild symptoms said he wanted his family members to be tested for the virus. But multiple calls to the civic body have had no effect.

“It is like we are all on our own. Every time I called, they asked me if my family members were seriously ill.

“I was told someone would get in touch but no one did. The civic body has even stopped collecting garbage and it has been lying in our driveway for the past one week.”

The usual practice

An official of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, which calls people in home quarantine and their contacts, said the civic body had a contact tracing cell whose officials have been directed to call patients or their contacts at least once every day.

“But this is not mandatory; we are doing this as an additional safety measure. When a patient or his/her contact is allowed to stay at home, it is also expected of them to inform the health department or the civic body about any changes in their health,” the official said.

Not everyone will know, though, what should be considered as “worsening health condition”, he said. “This is why regular calls from health authorities or the civic body will keep them alert. Also, they should stay in regular touch with their doctors.”

Responsibilities

The revised management protocol for Covid-19 patients says any person eligible and opting for home isolation has to sign an undertaking that says: “During this period I shall monitor my health and those around me and interact with the assigned surveillance team/ with the call centre (1075), in case I suffer from any deteriorating symptoms or any of my close family contacts develop any symptom consistent with Covid-19”.

Enquiry calls

A public health specialist cited the example of the two Salt Lake residents. “There are instances where contacts are tested to check if they have acquired the infection or not. It must be clearly communicated to the families when tests are needed and why their contacts do not need tests, if it is so at this point in time,” he said.

The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, which has 41 wards in its jurisdiction spread over Salt Lake, Baguiati, Kestopur, Teghoria, Kaikhali and parts of Rajarhat, has a single doctor and there were more than 300 Covid-19 patients. There are no doctors for every ward and it is impossible for one person to look after the daily status reports of those in home quarantine and their contacts, a civic official said.

Salt Lake mayor Krishna Chakraborty said those facing problems should call the councillors directly. “We are doing everything we can and sending health teams wherever possible. Residents can call the councillors if they need immediate assistance.”