Secunderabad: Call for corona testing at Bolarum Hospital

Secunderabad: With the Coronavirus cases increasing day by day in the city, the hospitals are bursting at the seams and facing huge shortage in Covid 19 testing facilities, isolation beds equipped with oxygen and ICU ventilators. The northern part of the city is most affected as there are a large number of Covid positive cases and are surging ahead. As there is no government hospital nearby, the locals are forced to travel faraway distances for testing and treatment. Federation of New Bolarum Colonies Welfare Association (FNBC) and some locals have requested the State and Central government to develop a Cantonment General Hospital, Bolarum, for treating the Covid positive patients.

"The last few months have been tough for the residents here due to the pandemic situation and lack of government-run hospital in Secunderabad. While Gandhi Hospital is at peaks and Gachibowli is approximately 30 km, the residents are left in lurch because there are no beds available for the patients. Also, the private hospitals are charging exorbitant amount of money for treating Covid infection. As Cantonment General Hospital, Bolarum, has a good infrastructure and is very spacious, it would be of great help for the locals here if a Covie testing facility was made available. At present, the hospital services are being rendered only to outpatients by a limited staff of three three doctors and two nurses. It would serve better if the State and Central governments deploy more staff and develop the hospital for the treatment of Covid patients. "We have submitted a written representation to the State government and military authorities," said Murali Krishna, working president of FNBC.

"Currently, such tests are being done at Fever Hospital and Osmania General Hospital, so people residing in the northern and the eastern parts of the city are forced to travel a minimum of 15-20 km for testing. If the government sets up the testing center at Cantonment General Hospital, it would help people residing in the vicinity," said AV Reddy, a resident of Temple Alwal," said Simhadri, president of FNBC.

"Request to pursue Central and State governments to ensure providing all necessary steps for testing and treatment of Covid-19 patients at Cantonment General Hospital, Bolarum which will be much beneficial to the public of Alwal, Bolarum and surrounding areas," said Raj Shekar, a resident of Bolarum.

"It's high time that Cantonment General Hospital should be fully equipped to handle Covid 19 cases. The government needs to act swiftly and boost the confidence of citizens. Hyderabad is registering the steepest rise of positive cases and people are dead scared," said Reynold Das, a resident from Bolarum.