India is close to the 2,00,000 bar of COVID cases. In the world tracker, it is fast climbing the ladder of the worst affected countries. The sudden spike in the numbers has not just the healthcare workers worried but everyone around us. There are stories floating around on how hospitals denied admission to a person as it had run out of beds, or how the person died in the hospital due to the unavailability of a ventilator. While we do not know the truth behind these stories, it is fast becoming a concern that the healthcare system in getting over whelmed with patients, and struggling with the basics like ventilators and the number of beds for new COVID patients.
In Mumbai, a doctor, heading the COVID team, shared his concerns about the drastic situation (on account of anonymity) saying, “We have been working tirelessly for more than two months now. Due to the strict lockdown, we had a comparatively lower number of cases initially but with the restrictions being eased, the number is rising and I am worried about how to accommodate these new patients. We have an evident shortage of beds for critical care. In some cases, we have to send back patients with mild symptoms but with strict instructions of quarantine...the fear in the patients eyes when they are asked to go back home—they get worried that they are being denied treatment—is heart-breaking but there is no way for us to take in so many patients..we take in patients who require immediate and critical attention while those whose symptoms are manageable are sent back. As a doctor and a human being, I don’t like behaving in such a manner, but right now, being able to save more lives is what I think matters the most.”
India has had one of the world’s strictest lockdowns since 24 March but now the curve shows no signs of flattening even after a month. The cases are doubling every week and it is a serious concern and source of worry and fear for many doctors. A recent NEWS item exposed how COVID patients are being treated right next to dead bodies in a hospital in Mumbai. The horrifying news shared that the dead bodies wrapped in black plastic are lying next to patients undergoing treatment. The hospital’s dean said that the morgue being full, the families of the dead had not come to claim the bodies and therefore they could not do much about it. Such NEWS is coming in from many hospitals where patients are even being forced to share a bed.
The doctor further exclaimed, “Even though there are different locations in hotels, sports centres, government schools etc that are being converted into makeshift hospitals, the rapid increase in the number of cases is overwhelming all of us. Parallely, we have a number of frontline doctors and nurses falling sick with the virus and being quarantined. Even police personnel staff as senior as DCP and ACPs are falling sick with COVID simply because of their exposure. It is the main reason for the shortage of medical staff. In fact roping in new volunteers is becoming a task now with their residential societies and neighbours stigmatizing them as happened with 82 nurses in Bhatia hospital. This is scaring a lot of people away from joining the COVID teams. I am worried for my team as well as the patients as I see that the hospitals are not prepared to take this spurge well.” He further stated, “Hospitals in Mumbai are as is usually overcrowded during the months of June. With the rising COVID cases we are worried about the additional outbreaks of dengue fever, malaria and leptospirosis during the monsoons. The fear of possible injustice on the Non-COVID patients is something that worries us all too.”
While the healthcare workers are trying their best to tackle the situation, it is on each one of us to behave responsibly and not contribute towards the spread of virus.