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Amid surge in Covid cases, Pune residents decry shortage of beds
Patient is forced to isolate himself at home endangering lives of other family members, including children, due to the unavailability of hospital bed
In addition to handling the news of testing positive for the Sars-Cov-2 virus which causes the Covid-19 infection, patients in the city are now fighting another battle of finding a hospital bed. In some cases, a positive person is forced to isolate himself at home for days endangering the lives of other family members, including children, due to the unavailability of hospital bed.
Recalling the difficulty faced by his brother, Mangesh Pardeshi described that the three family members had to run from pillar to post for at least three days before they got any hope of getting a bed, this too after many references and phone calls. Pardeshi said, “My brother Rajesh(52) is a construction contractor and lives in Ganj peth and was tested for the infection on March 24. He got the report on March 25 and since then we have been searching for a bed. His wife and son also tested positively eventually. Along with Covid he also has symptoms of jaundice and has high blood pressure.”
“We went to a private hospital where they recommended certain tests that confirmed jaundice and so were more worried. There were no beds available. When we called Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) helpline numbers, they took all the details and said they’ll get back to us, but no one called us back. Through references and calls we finally got a call from the private hospital that there might be a bed available on Saturday,” he said.
Another patient Rajiv Patil faced a similar problem. Kiran Joshi for whom Patil works is now hunting for a bed. Joshi said, ‘Patil works in my logistics company as a driver. He lives in Kothrud and it has been days now that he is isolated at home because he could not get a bed at a hospital. Even private hospitals do not have a bed. He is aged 38 and his wife is also tested positive and they have two kids, and both of them have undergone tests, but since they all live in the same house the kids are in trouble.”
“He had symptoms including cough, fever and difficulty while breathing. When I called the PMC helpline number they just took our details and never got back. I also called the phone numbers given on the Covid dashboard when I saw vacant beds in jumbo hospital at the College of Engineering (COEP), but they replied that the dashboard was updated in the morning and in the next five minutes all the beds were taken,” he said.
Dr Parikshit Prayag, a Covid consultant with Deenanth Mangeshkar, said, “Currently, we do not have any ICU (intensive care unit) or ventilator available with us. We have our fever OPD running where we provide medicines according to the symptoms. If we do get any severe patient we try to stabilise them and coordinate with a nearby smaller hospital for bed requirement. Our hospital has expanded, but the number of patients has increased drastically.”
Satyajit Thorat, who coordinates the Covid helpline number started by MLA Siddharth Shirole, said, “We have started getting calls for beds requirement for patients since the past two weeks as the number of cases have started to surge. Patients call us after they have not received any help from the PMC helpline and then we directly call the major hospital and ask for help.”
The state government has estimated that the city may face a shortage of oxygen beds by April 4, 2021, given the current surge. The district administration is making all efforts to add to the beds capacity.
As of March 24, there are 40,708 beds without oxygen, 8,037 beds with oxygen, 2,926 ICU beds and 1,523 with ventilators. While as per estimated figures as of April 4, 2021, there will be 30,563 beds without oxygen, 9,169 beds with oxygen, 1,834 ICU beds and 1,223 with ventilators as of April 4.
Murlidhar Mohol, mayor, said, “If we take control of the 50 per cent of the oxygen beds, ventilators and ICU from private hospitals we would have 5,000 more beds. In less than a week, the jumbo facility will have 500 beds available for Covid patients which we will take up to 800 beds if needed.”
