Non-COVID-19 patients must be cared for too

This picture has been used for representational purposes

This paper ran a prominent report about a Mumbai woman who lost her sister to respiratory illness recently. It was a heart-rending story of a frantic drive to different corners of the city, in order to find a hospital bed so that treatment could begin.

Hospitals turned them away saying there was no bed or place available. Precious hours were lost as the patient and relative had to search for a place in a facility.

This is not an isolated case. We hear of so many such incidents where relatives in despair try to find a bed for a loved one. He or she may not have COVID-19 but needs emergency treatment in another capacity. There are heart patients or even those without a history of heart disease who are succumbing to a heart attack. This may also be because of the golden hour that is lost, and time was frittered away trying to find a facility that will admit the patient.

Everybody acknowledges that these are extraordinary times. Beds are in short supply. There is a possibility of asymptomatic cases coming in. Yet we need serious thought and action about how those in need of other emergency procedures can be taken care of right away so that valuable time is not lost, minutes that just might make the difference between life and death.

It is ironical that today, when streets are empty and ambulances can move fast between venues, the dire time problem is not traffic, but the availability of beds.

Medical honchos and the state government need to address this with immediate effect. It is a pattern across the city. Finding solutions will be tough when a majority of space is reserved for COVID-19 patients, yet there has to be space and medical access for others too. Let us see this taken up with will and urgency.

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