A clueless DGHS!

There are four indispensable steps, which taken efficiently, can stem the tide of the pandemic onslaught. And those countries who have managed to reduce the severity of the fury, have with due diligence followed the four steps, i.e. testing, tracing, isolation and treatment. One follows from, and, complements, the other. It is understood that our testing capacity is severely limited, hamstrung particularly by shortage of qualified personnel. And given our limited capacity, as well as our demographic, social and economic environment, contact tracing, too is a far cry. But identifying the infected is an indispensable step in any anti-pandemic drive. And the least the health administrators could do was to keep track of those infected and ensure that they were either isolated through self-quarantine, or being treated, depending on their condition.  

However, in an appalling display of ignorance the directorate general of health service informed us that it has no data on the whereabouts of almost half the people who tested positive for coronavirus. When asked on Wednesday, the director general of the DGHS told our correspondent to ask IEDCR Director about the matter, who predictably, was not available to comment.

We are shocked by this deplorable ineptitude of the various departments of the health agencies. This is another example of bad management. To say that perhaps many of the laboratories are not providing all the information is unacceptable. Isn't it the responsibility of the DGHS to get the relevant data from all those authorised to carry out Covid-19 test and pass it on to the relevant authorities and agencies for further action every day? Isn't there a role in it for the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19?

The situation is alarming and all possible measures must be geared to track the infected. Otherwise, we fear the worst, since it will not only thwart all attempts to control the pandemic and make a farce of any lockdown, but mean we also face the risk of severe escalation.