Probe into complaints by patients ordered

Deputy Commissioner S.B. Bommanahalli has ordered an inquiry into complaints by some persons isolated in the district designated COVID-19 hospital and other quarantine centres. The primary complaint was from a woman who said that she and other vegetarian inmates were being served eggs in the hospital. The pregnant woman complained to hospital director Vinay Dastikoppa about the food served and threatened to go on a hunger strike.

She survived a day on biscuits and fruits. She refused the food served by the hospital and demanded that she be served food from her house. However, others have not complained. Now, she is being served a different menu, said an officer of the district administration.

In the second case, a resident quarantined in a private hotel on Kolhapur Road quarrelled with city corporation officials, saying that he was kept in the hotel beyond the mandated period of 14 days. He also argued that his throat swab was collected four days ago, but the results were not declared.

Another complaint sent to the Deputy Commissioner says that a woman quarantined in a private hotel was not staying in the hotel. She came to the hotel every morning for a few minutes and went out. When other inmates of the quarantine facility questioned the city corporation officer stationed in the hotel, he said that she had been given special permission. The fourth complaint was about the alleged deliberate delay in carrying out a test. A senior citizen has complained to the Deputy Commissioner that his wife, who had suffered brain haemorrhage, had been kept in quarantine for more than 14 days but had not been tested yet. “She was not tested till we fought for it,” said the complainant.