Residents seek more beds for Covid-19 patients

City residents are finding it hard to secure institutional treatment for their family members suffering from the coronavirus disease, with the recent spike in cases necessitating augmentation of health infrastructure in the district

City residents are finding it hard to secure institutional treatment for their family members suffering from the coronavirus disease, with the recent spike in cases necessitating augmentation of health infrastructure in the district.

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During a visit to several hospitals on Monday, when the city had over 12,000 active cases, an HT team found that neither oxygen nor intensive care unit beds were available at most locations. With no luck at local hospitals, some city residents had to travel to other districts to get themselves admitted to a hospital.

Paras Jain, who admitted his 20-year-old sister to a hospital in Panipat, said, “Even though my sister’s oxygen levels are stable today (Monday), on Sunday night, it seemed that the situation could go out of hand. We tried finding a bed in both Delhi and Gurugram, thinking we will get good treatment, but we were not able to secure one. Then we learnt that there was a bed available in Panipat, so we rushed and got my sister admitted after midnight.”

Family members of patients said that after failing to secure beds in nearby hospitals, they resorted to setting up healthcare systems at home.

Sangeeta Mahajan, a 49-year-old resident of DLF Phase-1, said, “The whole of the weekend, I tried to find a bed for myself and my husband, but we did not get any positive response. Every place was full, so we decided to set up a healthcare system at home with guidance from our doctor. Our oxygen levels are stable for now.”

Vaibhav Kumar, a 17-year-old resident of DLF Phase-1, said, “For the past two days, I have been trying to find a bed in a hospital in Gurugram for a friend’s grandmother who is aged above 80 years as her oxygen level has been fluctuating constantly, but we have had no luck so far.”

At four private hospitals in the city, no beds were available for Covid-19 patients as of Monday afternoon, even as more people continued to line up to get themselves tested.

Arun Kumar, a symptomatic suspected patient, who was waiting to get himself tested at a private hospital, said, “I had been trying to get myself tested for two days, but either there were no slots or there was a delay in reports. Now, I have come here as I heard from a few friends that they give the report within 24 hours and a maximum of 48 hours.”

The health department last week advised hospitals to admit only seriously ill patients. The district administration has also launched a portal — covidggn.com/public/pages/gurugram-hospitals — where people can track bed availability in real time.