Girl gets fever & cough at Silchar, alleges no help by control room & civil hospital

March 31: With much fanfare, the district administration of Cachar announced about its emergency helpline to deal with coronavirus related matters. The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Cachar has made wide publicity about their COVID-19 Control Room and also notified phone numbers for public to contact them. However, a mother daughter duo from Ambicapatty, Silchar had a bitter experience on Tuesday evening when they felt sick and tried to contact the control room.

As per reports, a girl and her mother who stays in an apartment in Ambicaptty developed symptoms similar to that of coronavirus. She was having fever along with dry cough. Knowing the fact, one of their immediate neighbour called the COVID-19 helpline of Silchar. It was alleged that though their name and contact numbers were noted down, but they refused to come on the pretext that it’s “night now.”

It was then that the neighbours felt very insecure and so compelled the mother-daughter duo to go themselves at S.M. Dev Civil Hospital, Silchar. Somehow, the mother managed to go to the hospital along with her sick daughter. Narrating her experience, the mother informed that, “No doctors examined us. They just listened to the health issues of my daughter and referred us for COVID-19 test at Silchar Medical College & Hospital (SMCH). As it was quite late, so I requested them to arrange for an ambulance for going to SMCH.”

The lady narrated that she was made to stand outside with her sick daughter for nearly two hours but no ambulance came. By that time, it was quite late in the night and so the lady told those on duty that they would come again the next morning. The on duty persons at civil hospital then allowed them to go at home.

When they returned to their apartment without getting checked for COVID-19, it became a nightmare for the neighbours. On condition of anonymity, some of them said that they will have sleepless night out of tension. One gentleman, associated with many reputed organisations of Silchar said, “This is how the things operate at the ground level. I would like to draw the attention of the Health Minister and Deputy Commissioner to please look into the matter and instruct those at the COVID-19 help desk to take issues more seriously.”

Also Read: Corona: DDMA Cachar notifies emergency numbers