Helplines number 1075 and the newly launched app by the Delhi government are falling short in helping patients get a bed in COVID hospital.
Amarpreet Kaur has detailed her ordeal on Twitter where she publicly asked for help for trying to admit her father, who tested positive for coronavirus at Delhi’s LNJP( Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Hospital).
Her tweet mentioned that the hospital was not admitting her father subsequently passed away later in the day.
She tweets that other members of the family want to get tested so that they can seek timely intervention, but labs are refusing to conduct the tests for her mother, brother, his wife and two kids.
I lost my father today morning to COVID
we want other family family members to get tested today only. which labs are not doing they are in danger. We are trying since morning.
My mother, brother, his wife and two kids. Pls help.— Amarpreet (@amar_hrhelpdesk) June 4, 2020
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Delhi government on Thursday issued new guidelines for testing COVID-19 patients. There has been a significant change in the testing guidelines as now only patients showing COVID-19 symptoms will be tested.
Earlier, family members living in the same house or doctors and health care workers exposed to a Covid-19 patient were tested even if they were asymptomatic. However, now only those asymptomatic patients who are high-risk contacts (diabetic, hypertension, cancer patient, and senior citizen) of a confirmed case will be tested.
The Delhi government has issued a show-cause notice to several laboratories for testing asymptomatic patients for the novel coronavirus, in violation of the guidelines set by the Indian Council of Medical Research.
The AAP government has also alleged that many asymptomatic persons, after testing positive, occupy beds in private hospitals instead of going for home isolation. “Window shopping for beds has started from the day we launched the [Delhi Corona] app,” state Health Minister Satyender Jain said. “The actual people with necessities are few among these. We are getting numerous calls with demand for beds.”
The number of cases of COVID-19 are expected to rise sharply as the country opens up gradually. The central government has told the Supreme Court that a “large number” of make-shift hospitals will have to be built in the near future to accommodate the constant rise in the number of newly infected people. Till these are up and running effective strategies to manage COVID-19 patients who have high risk have to be planned better.