Doctor talks about ‘horrors’ at Covid-19 hospitals, urges people to ‘wear masks'

The doctor’s post comes at a time when India is reporting over two lakh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) daily for the past two days and the total infection tally has surged past 14.29 million.

A doctor took to social media on Friday to share the plight of healthcare workers at Covid-19 hospitals and the disturbing episodes they witness as people break down when told about the condition of their family members infected with the viral disease. As she spoke about her traumatic experience and reflected on how she could have been more tolerant and loving with the patients, Saandhra, in her now-viral Instagram post, urged the citizens of the country to “just wear your masks when you are out.”

Covid-19: A hospital picture share by the doctor on Instagram. (Saandhra/Instagram Photo )

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Talking about the events in the past two weeks, Saandhra wrote, “I've been telling people that their 22-year-old son has died, lying to patients, telling them theek ho jaoge (you will getter better), when I know to my bones vo theek nhi honge… (they won’t getter better), hearing breathless women crying allah allah in anguish all night.”

She mentioned one of the Covid-19 patients who was put on a ventilator and eventually died. “...the last words of one of our patients before my friend intubated her was that she has an 11 and 4-year-old at home, not to let her die (she died), telling children that they may not get their mother's body, mother's standing before us with folded hands asking us to save their children's lives,” Saandhra wrote in a heart-rending post.

The doctor’s post comes at a time when India is reporting over two lakh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) daily for the past two days and the total infection tally has surged past 14.29 million. Following the spike as the country is witnessing the second wave of Covid-19 infections, several states have imposed restrictions including night curfews and weekend lockdowns to prevent the disease from spreading. The states have also imposed heavy fines for people found without masks.

Saandhra also spoke about the trauma doctors deal with and wished they continued to work hard as their family members may also need the support of healthcare workers if they get infected with Covid-19. “Working as hard as I can wishing other healthcare workers would do the same for my parents if they were to be hospitalized with covid… Coming back from my duty and crying about all of that I am forced to do/forced to watch… Crying about how I could have been a little more patient and a lot more loving to people who are suffocating to their deaths.. (6 hours in PPE all the while anxious about being exposed, anxious about dying just like our patients does not exactly leave you the sweetest person). To think that the pain I feel as a spectator is not even a quarter of the pain that our patients/their relatives feel,” the doctor wrote in her Instagram post.

As governments mull partial lockdown in view of the rising Covid-19 cases, Saandhra says, “Trust me your lockdowns are not difficult…You haven't seen the horrors we see… I wish I could show you videos of the pain I see, just to scare everyone enough for you to stay inside…Saying that it's difficult is the understatement of the century... I do not want to see this pain... None of us do. Do not put us through this.”

Acknowledging that it may not be possible for everyone to stay off work and be inside their homes for a long time, the doctor requested the people of the country to wear masks every time they step out.