Over 90,000 Covid-19 patients treated outside hospitals

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More than 90,000 Covid-19 patients are receiving treatment at home and mostly depend on telemedicine. However, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has no specific details on how effective this service is for the patients.

Not all of Covid-10 patients require treatment at hospital. At the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said 20 per cent of the patients may need treatment at hospital.

The director of the state-run Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control And Research IEDCR, professor Tahmina Shirin, told Prothom Alo, “All (Covid-19 patients) don’t need to be admitted to hospital for treatment. If oxygen saturation falls and the lungs are infected, then treatment at hospital is necessary.”

According to DGHS, 91,362 patients are receiving Covid-19 treatment at home as of 10 April while the total number of infections stood at 678,937, with 572,378 recoveries and 9,661 deaths. Some 5,338 people were receiving treatment at various hospitals.

How is these huge numbers of Covid-19 patients receiving treatment? In reply, director (disease control) and spokesperson of DGHS, professor Md Nazmul Islam, told Prothom Alo, “A majority of these patients are receiving service from the DGHS’s call centre ‘Shasthaya Batayan 16263’. Several private organisations are also providing services. Many patients also consult with physicians personally.”

Public health experts said telemedicine is important for two reasons. Firstly, it provides services maintaining social distancing, thus, reduces the risk of infection. Secondly, it saves time and money. But telemedicine is not the alternative to face-to-face treatment.

Shasthaya Batayan

The government’s call center Shasthaya Batayan has be providing telemedicine service since 2015. A private firm, Synesis IT Limited, operates the service. They introduced “Covid-19 Tele Heath Centre” under Shasthaya Batayan on 15 June 2020. Officials said they obtain the patient’s name and cell numbers from the management information system (MIS) of the DGHS.

Chief executive officer of Synesis IT Limited, physician Nizam Uddin, told Prothom Alo, “An evaluation of the patient’s health condition is prepared by calling the patients, using the details obtained from MIS. Then, they call the patients twice in the next 15 days. Besides, if any patient make a call, he/she is provided with consultation.”

As many as 120 trained physicians are providing services in three shifts and the centre has received or made more than 700,000 calls so far, he added.

However, there are various complaints about the service. Four people of a family, including a couple and their two sons, from the capital’s Mirpur, tested positive for coronavirus. The family said on Friday that Shasthaya Batayan or other government agency made no call to inquire about their health condition.

On the other hand, there is general complaint that people don’t get response any response when they call the number. Nizam Uddin said sometimes many calls come at the same time. On-duty physicians can’t receive all of them at once. So, some calls get left out, he added.

According to the government officials, one can avail an emergency ambulance for Covid-19 treatment by calling 999 and get advice related to coronavirus by calling 333. These two helplines also provide other services.

Public health experts said it is the responsibility if the health directorate to know whether the patients are receiving treatment at home and whether they are likely to spread the infection. Former director (disease control) of DGHS, professor Be-Nazir Ahmed said, “The health directorate must pay attention to 100 per cent of the patients receiving treatment at home. They cannot end their responsibility by just giving advice. Assistance must also be given on what the patient and that certain family will do during emergency situations, to which hospital they will go. Must less is being done than required.”

This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Hasanul Banna