A man from Maharashtra, who has been relentlessly trying to seek medical help in two states for his ailing father, has made a plea. "Give him a hospital bed, or just kill him with an injection," said Sagar Kishore Naharshetivar, who has visited multiple hospitals in Maharashtra and Telangana in less than 48 hours.
With his father lying in an ambulance and coughing, Sagar told NDTV, "I have been on the move since 3 pm yesterday. First I went to the Warora hospital, then the one in Chandrapur. Then we went to private hospitals as there were no beds."
All healthcare facilities overburdened with an increasing number of patients showed the grim reality of the country's crumbling health infrastructure. Frightening visuals showed patient lying in ambulances outside hospitals as facilities struggled with a shortage of beds.
At 1.30 in the night, Sagar went to Telangana with his ailing father.
"We reached Telangana around 3 am. But there were no beds there either. Then we came back in the morning. We have been waiting here since," he said.
"After so many hours, my father's oxygen is now running out," he said.
"Either you make a bed available for him, or you kill him with an injection. I cannot take him home like this and you have no beds available," Sagar made a heart-wrenching plea.
Maharashtra, the worst affected state by the pandemic, has been struggling to find beds, ventilators, oxygen for patients seeking medical help.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has asked for the army's help to tackle oxygen and medicine shortage.
"We are using (oxygen stocks) to the hilt. I told PM (Prime Minister Narendra Modi), looking at the condition, that in the coming days we will need oxygen," the CM said.