Indore: Scenes Of Anguish As COVID-19 Patients' Families Search For Beds In Hospitals, But Fail

With a surging number of COVID-19 cases, ambulances with patients lining up outside hospitals and desperate relatives running from pillar to post in search of beds are a common sight in Indore. The medical services in the city have been struggling to cope with the situation.

"We need a bed. It's an emergency. They say there are ten other emergencies. There is one person at the counter. There should be five people to man the counter, given that this is a pandemic situation. One person is handling 50 patients. It is taking half an hour to get a doctor. They are asking for an Aadhaar card and so many other documents, not treating my father," said a relative of one of the patients.

Another patient's relatives were seen pleading for oxygen as his condition deteriorated. His wife was screaming for help even as the patient breathed his last outside the hospital. The relatives of the patient alleged that they waited for hours, but the hospital was busy doing the formalities.

A relative of another patient said, "There is no bed available. I went from one hospital to the other; there are no beds. We returned home at 5 am. Even now, we couldn't get a bed. We are here, but nobody is paying any attention."

Two COVID-19 patients had died in an ambulance outside a Super Specialty Hospital in Indore on Friday, reported NDTV.

Though their relatives pleaded for help from the hospital authorities, they alleged that their cries for medical aid were left unheard.

At the same time, the authorities claimed the patients were already dead when they were brought to the hospital.

Dr Sanjay Dixit, Dean of MGM Medical College, clarified, "We have been told they were brought dead, in that case, we can't do much, that's why we have been saying they should take consent before coming here about availability of beds."

Madhya Pradesh Medical Education minister, Vishwas Sarang, assured that there is no problem related to beds or medical supplies.

In his statement, Sarang said, "This is not in our knowledge. It's a matter of investigation. It will be investigated, but I can assure you there is no problem related to beds, medicines or oxygen supply."

According to the latest official data released by the Health Ministry, Madhya Pradesh is among the top ten states that accounts for more than 84 per cent of the daily COVID-19 cases.

In the last 24 hours, Indore has been reported the highest number of cases in the state, adding 912 cases to its total infection tally.

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