Daily US Times: Most hospitals in India’s capital Delhi and many other cities across the country have completely run out of beds, forcing people to find ways to get treatment for sick patients at home. But even that’s proving to be difficult as prices of essential medicines and oxygen cylinders have skyrocketed on the black market.
The coronavirus situation is particularly dire in Delhi where there are no ICU beds left. Families, those who can’t afford ICU, are hiring nurses and remote consulting a doctor to keep their loved ones breathing.
India has been reporting more than 300,000 coronavirus infections for days, setting new daily records and this sharp spike in infections has overwhelmed the healthcare system of many cities.
This extreme situation has left no choice for families of the esick patients but to arrange whatever they can at home for their loved ones. But the struggles are huge from getting CT scan done to getting a blood test and x-ray.
Labs are overrun their capacity and taking up to three days for test results to prepare. This is making it harder for doctors who are treating covid patients to assess the progression of the disease and the patients. CT scans are also used by doctors to asses the condition of the patient but it is now taking days to get an appointment.
Doctors say that these delays in getting lab reports are putting many coronavirus patients at risk. RT-PCR tests for Covid-19 are also taking days.
Some hospitals in Delhi said they did not have any free beds and others said they were not taking new coronavirus patients due to continuing uncertainty over the supply of oxygen.
A number of Covid-19 patients have died in the capital due to a lack of oxygen supply.
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