Proper care centres, hospitals for kids suffering from COVID-19 need to be arranged: Satish Kaushik 

Satish Kaushik was admitted at a city hospital recently after testing positive for COVID-19. While he is better now, he’s worried about his two house helps and his 8-year-old daughter, Vanshika, who also tested positive. In fact, Vanshika was also hospitalised and she got home recently after being treated for a month.

Seeing the struggle of his daughter, Kaushik realised that this is a tough time for kids, too. “This is the second wave and kids are also getting infected. Proper care centres and hospitals for kids need to be arranged. They should comprise a specialised team of paediatricians and nurses who can handle kids adequately,” says Kaushik.

The veteran actor-filmmaker says what he experienced during his daughter’s treatment was traumatic. “When my daughter, Vanshika, needed a hospital bed, I managed to arrange one for her. But she wasn’t in a hospital that treats kids or has facilities to deal with COVID-19 related issues with kids. Children are getting diagnosed with multi-system inflammatory syndrome and Vanshika, too, had to undergo many tests. When it comes to health infrastructure, we don’t think of kids instantly,” he added.

Talking about a solution, Kaushik said that every hospital needs to be prepared and should have a ward for kids and provision for parents to stay. “It is a scary situation and things are getting worse. It is the need of the hour and we should start thinking and making provisions for the same,” he says.