A senior government official infected with coronavirus has lambasted the Armenian health authorities, saying that he did not receive adequate medical care in hospital and was sent home despite developing more health problems.
Faced with a rapidly growing number of coronavirus cases, the authorities stopped late last week hospitalizing or isolating people who show mild symptoms of the disease or none at all. They also began discharging fully or mostly asymptomatic patients from hospitals.
The Ministry of Health said that state-run policlinics across Armenia have been ordered to monitor such patients and give them necessary treatment or medication if need be.
Aram Babajanian, an adviser to the head of the Armenian government’s Urban Development Committee, and his wife were discharged from a Yerevan hospital at the weekend more than one week after testing positive for coronavirus.
In an interview with Hetq.am published late on Wednesday, Babajanian claimed that they barely underwent any treatment in the hospital and were sent home despite continuing to suffer from pneumonia and not having a second coronavirus test. He said a handful of hospital workers only measured their temperature and blood oxygen levels twice a day and left most of their questions unanswered.
Babajanian also claimed that the purported treatment caused him to develop a fungal disease and problems with his liver.
The 68-year-old official stood by his allegations when he spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian service by phone on Thursday.
“I don’t know now whether or not I still have pneumonia and whether or not I’m still a coronavirus carrier,” he said. “As a result of the ‘treatment’ given to me, my [blood] test results only worsened and I don’t know the current state of my liver.”
“How should I continue my treatment and where should I have blood tests or a computerized tomography scan to find out the condition of my lungs if I’m supposed to remain in self-isolation for two weeks?” asked Babajanian.
The Ministry of Health dismissed the claims, insisting that the couple’s treatment was proper and “smooth.” A ministry statement said the hospital in question has a good track record of saving the lives of COVID-19 patients.
The statement also charged that Babajanian and his wife are unhappy because they demanded privileged treatment from the hospital staff but were denied it. It said they wanted to be checked by a medical professor.
Babajanian categorically denied that. “I demand that they name the person to whom I said such a thing … They are telling obvious lies,” he said.
Babajanian further alleged that doctors from a policlinic close to his place of residence refused to help when he contacted them after being released from the hospital.
Speaking at a news briefing held later in the day, Health Minister Arsen Torosian acknowledged “some tension” between policlinic staff and infected Armenians confined to their homes. He blamed it on the inexperience of policlinic doctors who are only now starting to deal with coronavirus infections.
Torosian also urged disgruntled patients to alert his ministry about problems encountered by them through a special telephone hotline.
Inessa Petrosian, a well-known lawyer, was also told to self-isolate in her apartment after contracting COVID-19 recently. She too complained about the plight of people like her.
“I manage to somehow solve my issues but I’m sure that many other citizens stuck in their homes are only doing one thing: measuring their temperatures,” Petrosian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “But this virus is such that you don’t know what your temperature will be moments later. People who haven’t had their lungs examined don’t know what other problems they may have shortly afterwards, and nobody else cares.”
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