Coronavirus Lockdown: Odisha doctor couple feeds attendants of patients

Sambalpur: A doctor couple has been distributing cooked food among attendants of patients admitted to a hospital in Odisha's Sambalpur district as they were facing difficulty in getting eatables amid the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government to contain the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID 19).

Speaking to PTI, Dr. Satya Prakash Dora and his wife Dr. Jyotsna Padhan of the Sub-divisional Headquarter Hospital in Kuchinda stated that since March 30, they have been distributing cooked food among the attendants of the patients admitted to the 55-bed medical facility. "It is not an expensive affair to provide food to 30 people. We have decided to feed the attendants of the patients till the lockdown is lifted," he added.

Dr Satya Prakash Dora said the government provides food for the patients but their relatives, who have come from far-flung areas, have been suffering due to closure of restaurants because of the nationwide lockdown.

"I saw a patient sharing the food, provided to him by the hospital, with his attendant. I also saw a man bringing food from his village, which is around 20 km from Kuchinda. These sights touched me. Therefore, I and my wife decided to serve food to the patients''' attendants," he said.

The doctor couple cook food in their house with the help of some hospital staff and themselves distribute the food among the people.

Though the inflow of patients to the hospital has reduced due to the lockdown, still, around 30 people are attending to patients admitted to the hospital, Dora said.

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Earlier, the state of Odisha was seen banning the media from naming the patients or even their relatives, the State of Gujarat on the other hand has decided to reveal the names of all the persons infected with the deadly virus.