Jajarkot locals hit as private hospitals shut amid lockdown

JAJARKOT: Due to the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government, most of the private hospitals and drug stores in Jajarkot are closed.

The owners of these drug stores have closed their shops out of fear of infection from possible coronavirus patients coming to their stores to buy medicines. These owners who during normal times even come forward to play doctor and examine patients are now completely shut since the announcement of the lockdown.

People are compelled to go to the government health posts to buy the general medicines as nearly 300 drug stores in the seven local levels in the Jajarkot district are closed. Most of these drug stores also function as medicals without acquiring permission from the district health authority.

Only the David Medical Center at Thalaha is open in Chhedagadh Municipality. Proprietor Arjun Adhikari said all other medicals in the municipality are closed due to coronavirus fear.

Similarly, the drug stores and medicals in most of the other local levels are closed due to which the people have to either go to the district headquarters or to other places for health checkups or to buy medicines.

Bhim Khatri of Bheri Municipality-3 expressed dismay that almost all the medicine shops and drug stores in the municipality are closed. “Action should be taken against the hospitals and medicine shops not providing essential health services to the people even during the crisis time,” he demanded.

Even the government-run health institutions have notified the people not to go to the hospital in normal conditions.

The people in most of the local levels in the district are facing problems with the closure of private medicals and the government health institutions also not treating general patients.

Meanwhile, there is an acute shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in Jajarkot. The Karnali state government had sent only 50 units of PPEs to the district. The District Public Health Service Office, in turn, provided only two sets of PPEs each to the seven local levels, which is peanuts. It has kept 36 sets of PPEs in the district headquarters itself.

More, there is not a single IR Thermometre that is essential while conducting a health checkup of people for screening suspected coronavirus patients.

It is said the local levels themselves have managed medicines and other medical goods at the COVID-19 screening units.