Indore:
To fend off depression as well as boredom among coronavirus patients in hospitals here, the authorities have decided to provide them video-calling facility and TV sets.
The pandemic has affected the Indore district the hardest in Madhya Pradesh. Over 1,100 patients are being treated for virus infection at the moment.
“The feeling of loneliness during hospitalization creates negativity among COVID-19 patients who are at the risk of slipping into depression,” said Divisional Commissioner Akash Tripathi.
“We are going to provide TV sets and video-calling facility in COVID-19 wards of every government and private hospital in the district,” he said.
Private companies will also be roped in to provide these facilities under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme, he added.
“We will give one tablet with high speed Wi-Fi connection in each COVID-19 ward. Patients will be able to make video calls to their families using them,” Tripathi said.
The decision came following alleged suicide of a 78- year-old man at the city’s Maharaja Tukojirao Holkar Hospital.
The man, admitted on suspicion of having contracted virus, jumped from his fourth floor ward to death on Wednesday morning. Admitted 19 days earlier, he had tested negative for virus.
The district has recorded 2,378 coronavirus cases in total, including 99 who died and more than 1,100 patients who recovered.
