“At Lakhnadon, we are serving the community through our palliative care team. Currently, we have 30 patients who are being cared for. Everything was going well until the third week of March, but as soon as the lockdown was announced, everything went out of control.
At present there are no COVID-19 positive patients in our district of Seoni. But the government is closely monitoring things, especially as many laborers who work in other parts of the country are slowly coming home. In this situation, there is a strong possibility of the spread of the virus in our district.
We are thankful to have received permission from our magistrate for the distribution of dry goods. We have made 100 food packets containing rice, flour, lentils, sugar, oil, tea, spices, and soap, and delivered them to our palliative care patients.
The community is in crisis mode due to the lockdown. Currently, those who have money have purchased the items they need, but the poor people still do not understand what to do. The government has distributed rice and wheat, but not all of the needy people have received it, so they have nothing to eat.
All important items are no longer available in the market due to the lockdown. Due to a lack of vehicles, many people are forced to leave their homes by foot in search of necessities. It seems as if life has reverted to 25 years ago.
Due to the absence of a medical doctor at Lakhnadon for the last 18 months and the subsequent closure of our medical services, the credibility of our hospital is declining. At present, only 11 people are employed here, including my wife, a nurse, who looks after the palliative care patients. The rest are support staff. We are only able to provide services to those within 30 km of our hospital. We are praying for finances to meet our needs for 2020-2021.”
~ Mr. Neeti Raj Nand, Administrator
Emmanuel Hospital Association Canada 