COVID19 infections have been on the rise in Puducherry and a large number of patients are being treated at the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College Hospital, which operates as COVID19 hospital.
Complaints arose that the treatment area was unsanitary and that the toilets in particular were not being cleaned.
Following this, Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao went to the hospital for a surprise examination. Wearing protective wear, he listened to the grievances of the patients who were being treated at the hospital and also surveyed the bathrooms and toilets. Upon seeing the stains in the toilets, he asked for a cleaning brush and liquid and immediately started cleaning the toilet himself.
With 75 patients in this ward and a shortage of hygiene workers, the toilets had become unhygienic and unfit for use. He later said that government hopes to have sufficient manpower in place with 458 workers that includes doctors, nurses and hygiene workers being engaged on contract basis.