Even though the recovery rates for Covid-19 in India have increased, it can’t be denied that the day-to-day rise of this virus in the country is alarming.
So, now that the country’s coronavirus cases have gone past Italy’s count today, my question is – is the government well-equipped for this?
A Facebook post by Varun Vats highlighted this sentiment in the form of a first-hand experience. This resident of Rohini, Delhi in his post talked about how Delhi’s government is controlling Covid-19 and how the people with the symptoms are being treated.
Varun started the post by mentioning how he got in contact with a Covid-19 positive patient and had the symptoms of the same (fever, cough, cold and headache) after the encounter. He then decided to get tested. The guy updated his status on government-provided Aarogya Setu app which provided him with some link of labs which were not open.
Then he tried contacting the Central Govt. Helpline for COVID-19. After an hour of effort, he was asked to visit Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, a Delhi Government Hospital located in Rohini West, Delhi.
The next day, when he went to visit the hospital, it pretty much was a nightmare for any patient.
𝐈 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐤𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 around 12:30 PM along with the report of my cousin. I got a token from the counter and they asked to wait till 3 PM. As usual after my patience was tested, my turn came around 4:20 PM when I heard something unexpected. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, “𝐀𝐛𝐡𝐢 𝟐 𝐝𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐡𝐢 𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐞, 𝐚𝐚𝐩𝐤𝐨 𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐢 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚 𝐡𝐮”. I came back home with a hope to get tested after 2 days since my symptoms were not that serious.
Two days after this visit, Vats reached the hospital in the morning. There he came to know that the samples were not being collected because the hospital doesn’t have the permission from the higher authority. He, along with other patients with the same symptoms tried to talk to people in the hospital but all was in vain. So they called the helpline again which asked them to go to another hospital – Maharaja Agrasen Bhawan Sector -5.
After rushing to the said hospital, he was again told there that there were no kits there due to which no testing is being done.
Imagine the ordeal of a person who would be dealing with all of this while getting weaker by the day. Regardless, Varun tried contacting private labs and they too had the same answer.
𝐒𝐢𝐫, 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐳𝐲𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐡𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝟐-𝟑 𝐃𝐢𝐧 𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐚𝐩 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚.
Many people like him are finding themselves in situations like these during this time of crisis. A similar instance like this happened with Kunal from Mumbai where the patient is helpless in front of the government.
Over the last two days, I have seen first-hand the absolute collapse of health infrastructure in Mumbai. My uncle died of COVID-19 and here’s what I know–be very scared.
— Kunal Purohit (@kunalpurohit) June 5, 2020
A thread.
Varun was contacted by Delhi Govt. Volunteers after his post on Facebook went viral and people started sharing it. They helped him get tested. But what would’ve happened if it wasn’t for this post?
What about the people who are poor and can’t afford to get tested at a private lab? This was probably one such instance that has been highlighted, there might be many such people who are battling with the virus and the government. Makes one think if we really are ready to take over this pandemic.
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