In an appalling video that has surfaced on social media, a gardner from Madhya Pradesh’s Sanchi district was seen collecting COVID-19 test samples from patients and asking them to perform a self-test.
It can seen in the video that people who had come to the hospital to get tested were being instructed by Halke Ram, the Gardner, on how to collect throat samples, at the sample collection Kiosk.
Halke Ram said that he was asking people to collect their own samples because everyone else in the hospital had already tested positive for the viral infection.
“I am a gardener. Also, I’m not a permanent employee of the hospital but I am collecting samples because all others at the hospital have been infected,” was quoted as saying by NDTV.
The Block Medical Officer, Rajshiri Tidke, however, defended the moved saying Halke Ram was trained to collect samples.
"What can we do? The staff has got infected but work has go on and, therefore, as an emergency alternative, we have trained several people, including the gardener, to collect samples,” Tidke said.
Ironically, Sanchi is represented by state health minister, Dr Prabhuram Chaudhary, who is busy in campaigning for by-elections in Damoh.
Madhya Pradesh on Monday (April 12) reported 6,489 fresh COVID-19 cases, the single highest spike in a day this year. With 37 fatalities, the total death toll in the state stands at 4,221 In the past 11 days, upto 46,577 new cases have been reported in the state.
