Mizoram hospital doctor, staff booked for playing futsal amid COVID-19

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A doctor, who was treating COVID-19 patients at a state-run hospital here and later found positive, and two other medical staff were booked on Thursday for defying lockdown and flouting safety rules by playing futsal, police said. The FIR was filed against the doctor, working in Zoram Medical College (ZMC), and the two staffers of City hospital and Grace Nursing Home and Research Centre at Bawnkawn police station on a complaint by activist Vanramchhuangi alias Ruatfela Nu.

In her complaint, Ruatfela said that a section of the media reported that the doctor, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, was playing futsal with the two other persons that very evening in Durtlang Leitan locality here. The administrations of the two hospitals have also been included in the FIR.

Futsal (also known as ftsal or footsal) is a ball sport played on a hard court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football. The infected doctor is undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at ZMC, health department officials said. The state government served a show cause notice to the doctor during the day seeking clarification on why he stepped outside at a time when he should maintain self isolation, official sources said.

Ruatfela alleged that the doctor was dealing with COVID-19 patients and sample collection before he tested positive, adding he was waiting for his swab test result. She demanded legal action against the doctor for "acting in unscrupulously manner to spread the deadly virus and endangering the safety of others".

She also claimed that the administration of the two hospitals allowed their staff to organise sports events despite curfew and thus disrespected the government order. However, Grace Nursing Home and Research Centre, managing director Johny Zahmingthat denied that the sports event was organised by the administration.

He said that staffers of the two hospitals held a friendly match on their own and invited the doctor as he had once worked at the research centre.

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