Click to play videoNew Delhi: Four new cases of swine flu have been reported in the National Capital, taking the total in Delhi to 10. But hospitals seem unable to ensure that the virus is contained with yet another suspected case running away.
The 16-year-old boy suspected to have swine flu ran away from Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital on Wednesday morning, potentially spreading the H1N1 virus in the process.
However, the police forcibly brought him back to the isolation ward at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital.
The boy was one of 20 children that returned from a trip to NASA centre in Florida on June 11 and has now tested negative.
But why did he run away from the hospital?
According to the hospital doctors, nurses and family members of patients are allowed inside the isolation ward only after they wear a protective mask.
But the boy and his father claim the room was infested with mosquitoes even thought it was been cleaned.
There are nearly 20 beds in the ward but the sheets are not very clean and some have flies sitting on them.
To reach the isolation ward one has to walk through four to five corridors to even reach. But the boy on the pretext of going to the washroom walked right out of hospital and had there been security or if the hospital staff had been alert, he could have been easily stopped.
"We take almost all precautions. We only allowed one attendant for this patient because he is a child. No one else is allowed expect the staff and doctors," said Dr Jyoti.
After two high profile H1N1 patients walked out of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, the Delhi government has invoked a clause of the Epidemic Act giving it the power to forcibly keep patients in hospitals.
But what about the government's responsibility to provide the patients with quality care? The Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia denies any mishandling on their part.
"I would appeal through your channels that being sick and being in a hospital are not like being in a jail as a convict," said Walia.
In a meeting of all the medical superintendents of the Delhi hospitals, the government finally admitted to lapses.
"Yes there were problems. We have asked hospitals to improve their standards," said JP Singh, Principal Secretary (Health), Delhi.
While the government has been is grappling with the situation, it still remains the responsibility of the citizens to cooperate.
If a person is suspected to be infected with the H1N1 virus, he or she is also exposing other people and that could lead to a full blown epidemic.
(With inputs from Devika Mallik and Sahlini)
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