Pune: Patients complain of substandard food at COVID Care Centres, PCMC team formed to address grievances

Pune: Patients complain of substandard food at COVID Care Centres, PCMC team formed to address grievances

Pune: Patients in COVID Care Centres have complained of sub-standard food being provided to them by the contractors supplying meals at these centres. Some patients have demanded that they should be allowed to bring homemade food at the centre. A team of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation under the guidance of Additional Commissioner is working to resolve this issue.

COVID-19 infected patients are classified according to symptoms like asymptomatic, mild symptomatic and critical patients. The option of home isolation is open to those who are asymptomatic. If there is no such arrangement, they are admitted to COVID Care Centres, while those with symptoms are admitted to the hospital. For critically ill patients, oxygen beds and ventilator beds are arranged.

Municipal Corporation has appointed contractors to provide nutritious food to all such patients. Diet includes morning and afternoon tea, lunch and dinner. Poha or Upma for breakfast and rice, four chapatis, dal, usal or leafy vegetables, salad for meals. Contractor gets Rs 180 per meal.

Patient says...
1. Me and my two children are at COVID Care Center. but, the meal is tasteless. We don't feel like eating anything. We want to move to another centre.

2) I was in COVID Care Center for seven days. We used to get hot water for bathing every day. I used to get Poha or Upma and two eggs for breakfast. Sometimes I got milk instead of tea. The food was good too.

Marxist Communist Party city secretary Ganesh Darade has demanded that the concerned contractor providing meals at the Jijamata civic hospital should be blacklisted and the contract should be cancelled as the food quality is not sub-standard.

Dietician Dr Ram Gudliya said, "Patients often do not know the taste of food due to COVID-19 symptoms and the effect of medicines. However, patients should be given a healthy diet at least four times a day. It should contain more protein. There should be pulses, eggs, soybeans, etc. This increases immunity. It should be hot, fresh and liquid in form. Take milk for breakfast in the morning and eat fruits in the afternoon. Drink more water. This reduces the risk of infection in the body."

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