The refusal of ambulance drivers in Bongaon to ferry a suspected coronavirus patient to the Infectious Diseases and Beleghata General Hospital has prompted the Bengal government to direct the districts’ administration to create a pool of vehicles and drivers to ferry patients.

The government said on Saturday that this was necessary to facilitate better treatment without wasting time. The government has also directed the districts’ authorities to sensitise ambulance drivers so that they do not refuse duty to avoid proximity with patients suspected to have contracted the novel coronavirus.

Doctors at the Bongaon State General Hospital had advised an elderly cancer patient, who they suspected had developed Covid-19 symptoms, to be shifted to the ID Hospital in Beleghata, the state’s only referral hospital for treating infectious diseases.

When the patient’s kin tried to hire an ambulance, drivers refused to ferry him, saying their vehicles were not meant to carrying those with “transmittable” diseases.

The 69-year-old retired employee of the state finance department and resident of Mostafipara in Bongaon had been admitted to the Bongaon hospital on Friday afternoon with complaints of influenza. Around 5pm on Friday, doctors referred him to the Calcutta facility for better treatment.

The elderly man’s sister said: “My elder brother has been suffering from cancer and had gone for a scheduled check-up at AIIMS Delhi on March 5. He returned home on March 9 with fever, cough and cold. However, he was not screened at the airports. On Friday afternoon, we admitted him to the Bongoan hospital, where doctors suspected that he had symptoms of coronavirus and referred him to Calcutta. Nevertheless, we were unable to shift him immediately as ambulance drivers refused to ferry him.”

Sources said the patient was eventually shifted to Calcutta after a delay of 22 hours, at 3.30pm on Saturday. The transfer was possible only after former Trinamul MLA Gopal Seth intervened and persuaded a private ambulance to do the job.

The delay has caused embarrassment to health officials in North 24-Parganas.

District magistrate Chaitali Chakrabarti said: “It (the shift) got delayed, but we have been able to make arrangements to take the patient to Calcutta.”

A senior official in the state health directorate said the incident was “unexpected”, adding that necessary instructions had been issued to prevent a recurrence of the incident anywhere in Bengal.

“We have told the districts’ administration to create a pool of vehicles and drivers for shifting patients for better medical intervention. We have also advised sensitisation of drivers and confidence-building measures such as providing them protective gear,” the official said.

Assistant superintendent of the Bongoan hospital, Saptarshi Choudhury, said: “He (the elderly patient) has been suffering from fever, along with cough and cold, for over a week. As we suspected that his symptoms were similar to Covid-19, we referred him to the Beleghata ID Hospital for better medical management.”

Sources said the Bongaon hospital had eight ambulances, including those that can be hired privately for the government’s Matrijaan service. But none of the ambulance drivers agreed to ferry the patient out of fear of contracting the coronavirus. Private ambulance operators in the town also refused the job.

Chief medical officer of health, North 24-Parganas, Tapan Saha, said the drivers had panicked. “The panic is unfounded. The drivers, like many others, seemed concerned about their own safety. We have decided to sensitise drivers so that such a situation does not recur,” he said.

“We will give them protective gear and accessories so that they do not panic in such a situation,” Saha added.