Karnataka: Mini libraires set up for COVID-19 patients in Shivamogga

The Karnataka Health Department’s employee union has taken up an initiative to provide quarantined COVID-19 patients with a leisure activity by setting up bookshelves and creating a library-like experience for the patients.

Shivamogga: The Karnataka government has set up libraries in COVID-19 wards of the McGann district hospital and the Sagara Taluk sub-division hospital in Shivamogga.

The State Health Department’s employee union has taken up this initiative to provide quarantined COVID-19 patients with some activity to keep them occupied and relaxed by setting up bookshelves in the hospital wards.

These mini libraries will cater to their mental wellbeing and help them recover soon.

Dr Sridhar, Director of the Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) and the McGann district hospital told a news agency that “the libraries were set up so that patients can relax."

"Many patients here are under a lot of stress and are anxious about their sickness. Reading will help them relax and will distract them from stressful thoughts," said Dr Sridhar.

The libraries have about a thousand books placed inside the wards for leisure reading which were given as gifts to the hospital as a gesture by printers, publishers, and bookshops nearby.

As of October 10, Karnataka added over 9,250 infections, witnessing a lowering trajectory attributed to the deviations in the tally.