Contagion: Patients, families wary of delay in medical reports.

LAHORE -- Several suspected patients of coronavirus (Covid-19) and their attendants have said that though medical and healthcare arrangements in public hospitals across the provincial capital are satisfactory, the government should instruct the doctors and hospitals to keep the patients and their families updated about their medical condition and test reports.

A patient in the isolation ward of the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) said, 'I am in this hospital for the past 12-13 days. Medical treatment facilities are good. The hospital has provided disposable masks to all patients.'

He said doctors were regularly monitoring his vitals. 'Hospital staff provides us with food which our families left outside the isolation wards. We only have one complaint that doctors are not informing us about our test reports and health condition.'

Responding to a question, he highlighted that earlier his test reports came after four days but now over a week has passed and there was no clue to his medical report. 'I have no clue when I will get reports of subsequent tests. The government should direct doctors and hospital management to keep patients and their families informed about their test reports and health condition since everyone is worried about their loved ones in the current situation.'

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The elder brother of a female patient admitted to Mayo Hospital, Sohail Ahmad, complained that his sister had tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday and shifted to the hospital. Doctors also conducted coronavirus tests of all the family members and cleared them after they tested negative. Though her health condition is stable and she has no symptoms of coronavirus except for some breathing issues, doctors are not allowing the family to see her.

'We are really worried about her health since we have to face great difficulty in delivering food for her. First, we have to convince police that we are going to deliver food for our patients in the hospital, then we have to plead with the hospital staff to deliver the food boxes to our sister.'

He also highlighted that neither the hospital nor the government was providing any information about patients' health and test reports, which was worrying for families watching the deteriorating situation on television screens.

A female patient admitted in Mayo Hospital complained that she has been waiting for her test report for the past 10...