As restrictions loosen, Kohima hospitals witness spike in number of patients

Our Correspondent
Kohima, May 5 (EMN): Following graded relaxation in the lockdown, hospitals in the state capital seem to have witnessed a surge in the number of patients. There have been reports of increasing numbers of patients at the Covid-19 nursing home at Naga Hospital Authority, Kohima (NHAK).

“Numbers of patients are increasing day by day,” said Dr. Thorusie Katiry, managing director (MD) of NHAK while speaking to Eastern Mirror.

The designated Covid-19 hospital has started operating OPD facility to patients with various ailments, since there are no reports of Covid-19 related cases in the city so far.

“Our OPD has started because there are lots of patients who are really suffering, especially the poor,” he said. The doctor also shared that apart from those coming with fever and cough, other patients with varied symptoms of sickness are coming to seek medical attention at NHAK.

Katiry informed that patients with dire cases are referred to other government-recognised private hospitals and are not allowed to be admitted at NHAK.

The government of Nagaland had issued an order earlier asking patients to be shifted to the private hospitals in Kohima as NHAK has been converted to a Covid-19 hospital in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. It discharged both general and serious patients from NHAK following the order.

A medical staff at KP Bethesda in Kohima said that there have been no alarming cases or new developments in the hospital. “Patients are coming and going as usual while doctors are attending to OPD patients,” he said, adding that patients coming with symptoms like cough and fever are referred to NHAK.

The management of Bethesda is also maintaining strict rules for patients and visitors at the hospital. It was informed that the temperature of each person entering the hospital is checked while the wards are being sanitised regularly.

“We are getting lots of emergency patients and I don’t think it’s because of the relaxation. Those who are sick, they are coming; those who are sick anyway, they have to go to the hospital,” said Kezhalezo Angami, medical superintendent of Bethel Medical Centre.

He informed that even last Monday, the hospital received many patients. “We can’t stop sick people because coronavirus is not the only disease,” the doctor added.

For safety precautions, the hospital is maintaining social distancing. “We have kept space in the hospital so that they (patients) don’t sit by each other,” he said.

He added that hand sanitisers for visitors and patients are also kept at the reception.

Meanwhile, Vizevole Temi, a nurse at Putuonuo Nursing Home, informed that doctors and nurses of the hospital are tending only to emergency cases like cancer, labour and delivery.

She said that the hospital has been registering increasing numbers of patients with cancer and women with delivery issues. However, the nursing home has closed OPD services, she informed.

Temi said that the hospital is also adhering to safety measures against Covid-19. She also stated that the travel history of patients is strictly checked before admitting them to the hospital.