Non-Covid morbidity and non-Covid mortality increasing immensely in Guwahati , says Assam health minister

GUWAHATI: Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that non-Covid morbidity and non-Covid mortality is increasing immensely in Guwahati because majority of private hospitals are refusing treatment without Covid-19 test results.
“To help these patients, we will now facilitate Covid-19 test at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital for patients who need immediate hospitalization for other treatments like dialysis, chemotherapy, emergency surgery.The results will be made available within 24 hours,” Sarma said.
Patients needing immediate hospitalization are having to wait for four to five days and sometimes even longer for their results after giving their swabs for tests in the normal process, which often turn out to be a fatal end for many of them.
“Many such patients go to private hospitals but they are not treated until they produce the Covid test results. As a result, in the city’s non-Covid morbidity and non-Covid mortality is increasing immensely. I expected that private hospitals and nursing home would set up their own testing facilities. It’s been four months of the pandemic now but except a couple of private hospitals, the others still do not have their own testing facility,” Sarma said.
“Many are dying of heart attacks, there are people who need immediate dialysis, some need chemotherapy…they are all suffering because of this,” Sarma said.
He said that GMCH will upload the test results of these patients in the official website covid19.assam.gov.in, which these patients can produce wherever they wish to get treated for their non-Covid aliments.