Delhi is among the worst-hit states and Union Territories with the number of coronavirus positive patients crossing the 25,000 mark. The death count due to the infectious disease has risen to 700, mainly because of the inadequate facility.
Several Delhi residents have expressed their concern on social media over their family members, tested positive for COVID-19, not being able to access beds. To check the reality of these claims, we tried to call several prominent hospitals and asked them about the availability of beds. (We reached out to them over the phone as a patient)
The first hospital we tried to reach out was Saroj Super Specialty Hospital and were shocked by the reply we got. According to the hospital, there are no beds reserved for COVID-19 patients “We are still setting it up and it may take a couple of days,” said a hospital staff over the phone.
This is happening when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has time and claimed that there are enough beds in hospitals for COVID-19 patients. Just this week, the Delhi CM declared that over 4,000 beds were still vacant. He even launched an app titled ‘Delhi Corona’ that would give information about the availability of beds and ventilators in private as well as public hospitals.
‘Delhi Corona’ is of no help for people
How effective it is can be gauged by the fact that it in the app, Saroj Super Specialty Hospital says that occupancy is zero. But when we contacted the hospital over the phone we got to know that they are still in the process of setting up COVID-19 facility.
https://twitter.com/kishore_im/status/1268207299526443013?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1268207299526443013&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fscroll.in%2Farticle%2F963789%2Fplease-help-as-coronavirus-cases-soar-in-delhi-patients-are-struggling-to-find-hospital-beds
Later, we tried to contact Fortis Hospital through its centralised helpline number and we got a similar reply. We were told that there are no beds available at both the locations – Shalimar Bagh and Saket.
@msisodia @ArvindKejriwal @SatyendarJain sir my patient is showing symptoms of COVID but no where I am getting admissions. Need urgent attention, brought him to Fortis Shalimar Bagh, they are asking us to leave. Please help, 9971282682
— Abhishek Jain (@sensations14) June 4, 2020
We got the same reply from Akash Hospital too. After trying several hospitals, at last we contacted Bhagwati Hospital where beds for COVID-19 patients were available but not in the ICU. When tried to ask about the number of beds reserved for coronavirus patients in the ICU, the hospital staff said its 20 per cent as per the government order but didn’t quote the exact number.
ALSO READ | COVID-19 Patient Admitted To SGRH Hospital After 12 Hours Of Wait
Several Delhiites have already been raising this issue on social media platforms but in vain. Earlier, a Delhi resident lost his father after Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital refused to admit him.
@ArvindKejriwal @SatyendarJain ground reality is bad giving interview is easy yesterday we suffered for 8 hours to get a bed and u said Delhi is prepared no beds in hospital ur app is all lie do something #Hospital #DelhiFightsCorona #COVID
— GAURAV DHANAWAT 🇮🇳 (@Gauravdhanawat) June 4, 2020
Earlier on Friday, Anurag Singhal’s had to wait for 12 hours outside Sir Ganga Ram Hospital to get his coronavirus positive uncle admitted.
Despite all this, Delhi health minister Satyendar claims that there was no shortage of beds for COVID-19 patients in city hospitals.
“There are some misleading reports that there is a shortage of beds for Covid-19 patients in Delhi because a few private hospitals are refusing admissions. The truth is, there is absolutely no shortage of beds in Delhi at the moment,” he said.
Delhi recorded 1,330 fresh coronavirus cases on Friday while the number of deaths due to COVID-19 jumped to 708, authorities said. The highest spike in new cases – 1,513 – was recorded on June 3.
