The second wave of Covid-19 is literally choking the health infrastructure in the district with all government and private hospitals running full to capacity even as relatives of Covid-19 patients, who require critical care, are running from pillar to post in search of beds.
Social media, including Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp, are flooded with messages of patients’ kin who are looking for hospitals, more so with a ventilator support system available.
Many are also claiming that they have lost their loved ones due to non-availability of Level- 3 (L3, critical) beds in Ludhiana.
As per the data shared by the district administration, there are 481 beds earmarked for Level-3 Covid patients, out of which 454 are currently occupied. While these are official figures, the long queues of people waiting outside hospitals, waiting for a bed to fall vacant for their ailing kin, tell a different story.
Family members of Kamini Garg, a 55-year-old from Barnala who had lost her battle to Covid on April 28, said that they were not able to secure a Level-3 bed for her even as her daughter and son-in-law are practising doctors. Yogesh Agrawal, a relative of the deceased, said that for three days, they kept going from one hospital to another looking for beds but had no luck. “We had even applied online at each hospital but to no avail. She was first admitted at a hospital in Moga and was rushed to Ludhiana when her condition deteriorated. She died in the isolation ward, waiting for a critical-care bed,” he said.
The relatives of 50-year-old Gurmeet Singh are also going through a similar ordeal. Her niece Rashminder Kaur said, “I, along with my husband, am struggling to arrange a Level-3 bed for my aunt. She is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital on Ferozepur Road. The hospital authorities have told us that her condition is deteriorating and she needs to be shifted to an L3 facility but all hospitals are turning us away.”
{{/usCountry}}The relatives of 50-year-old Gurmeet Singh are also going through a similar ordeal. Her niece Rashminder Kaur said, “I, along with my husband, am struggling to arrange a Level-3 bed for my aunt. She is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital on Ferozepur Road. The hospital authorities have told us that her condition is deteriorating and she needs to be shifted to an L3 facility but all hospitals are turning us away.”
{{/usCountry}}Dr Gaurav Sachdeva, the medical in-charge of the Covid unit of Arora Neuro centre, said the situation is grim and the patient load is phenomenal.
“The seriousness of the situation can be gauged from the fact that for every four patients discharged from the hospital, there are eight others waiting to get admitted. We have 10 ICU beds and are adding three more beds,” said Dr Sachdeva.
Burden of outsiders
The health infrastructure of the district is also crippling due to the influx of patients from outside. As per information, around 41% of the hospitals in Ludhiana are occupied by outsiders.
As the health system is bursting at seams, even nursing homes have no space. While the state government has not framed any policy and has said it will welcome patients from any part of the country in wake of this national crisis, hospitals have no option but to turn away the patients due to non-availability of bed.
“My brother’s oxygen is falling below 80. He has been recommended ventilator support but we are not getting any in Delhi or Noida. We tried Ludhiana but all hospitals denied L3 facilities to us as we are not from the city,” said Pragati, a Noida resident, who also shared her ordeal on various Whatsapp groups in Ludhiana.
As on April 28, there were 785 Ludhiana residents admitted in private hospitals across the district while the number of residents from outside the district stood at 325. At Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, as many as 90 patients are from Ludhiana while 110 are from outside the city. Similarly at Christian Medical College and Hospital, 120 patients are from city while 35 of those admitted are from outside. At Fortis hospital, 30 Covid patients belong to Ludhiana wile 20 are from outside.
On Friday, police commissioner Rakesh Kumar Agrawal shared an advisory on Facebook, urging people to not to call their relatives to the district for treatment. “Please do not call your relatives and friends for Covid treatment in Ludhiana. This is choking our hospital infrastructure as beds are almost full,” he wrote.
The hospitals are also battling severe staff crunch in these pressing times. “Nearly 80% of our staff is deployed on Covid duty. The doctors are hard pressed and working till long hours to save the lives of those suffering from ailment,” said Dr Baldeep of Deep hospital.