India COVID crisis: ‘We tested 15 hospitals before my mother died’ | Coronavirus pandemic News

New Delhi, India – Unlike the millions of Indians who are fighting for the crown to get the treatment for the deadly virus, Savita Oberoi was neither poor nor incapable.

However, the middle-upper class family could not save him. They were unable to find a hospital bed or oxygen in time, and the 61-year-old lost to COVID-19 on April 12.

“We knocked on the doors of at least 15 hospitals, touched all the networks and contacts to arrange treatment for my mother,” says Oberoi’s daughter, 38-year-old Vandana Paliwal, a teacher at a school in West Delhi. “We finally got the bed for the moment after trying it for a few days, which was also through a contact who knew the hospital management.”

But it was little, too late. A few hours later, Oberoi passed away. The hospital called his family in the middle of the night to say he had died.

“All I can say is that Indians don’t die because of COVID-19; they’re dying from not receiving treatment on time. There’s a big difference. I’ve lost my father already; and now losing my mother has been a double whammy for me,” says Paliwal.

Despite the comfortable economic situation of the family, Paliwal recounts how they had to struggle at every step to care for their mother. “Imagine the situation of the poor,” he added.

“There are long queues everywhere: clinics, hospitals, laboratories, drugstores … For two days, we couldn’t get a lab technician to come and test my mother. Even if you have the money for COVID-19 treatment, there is no guarantee that you will receive and experience treatment. simply because you can do little about these bottles.

“Is that how a civilized country works?” he asks.

When Oberoi was finally tested for COVID-19, the result was delayed. Arriving three days later, Paliwal had to continue with the lab after a lot of pushing and pushing. Meanwhile, Oberoi’s situation worsened.

“We were told that the lab had difficulty meeting the demands of thousands of patients for testing. My mother already had diabetes and chronic kidney disease. She was killed by systemic delays.”

Until the family confirmed that Oberoi was COVID positive, they were unable to initiate appropriate treatment. “The wait at all levels was disappointing and angry. My husband and I separated by caring for the sick mother and working on the phones to contact hospitals and doctors. We didn’t know what to do; it was madness, “says Paliwal.” It seems like the whole world is falling around us. “

When the family finally got to the hospital bed, they took a deep breath. But Oberoi did not want to be accepted. As the daughter remembers, she said she had no good feelings.

“I thought my mother had a premise that she might not be able to survive the hospital. But we told him there was no other choice. He already had several disorders that endangered his immunity. so he needed specialized care. His sixth sense gave him a reason: he entered as a living person and came out as a ‘body’. ”

The school’s teacher believes the country’s medical system has completely collapsed “like a house of cards” under the second wave of coronavirus. The senseless black markets have gone from night to day with treatment drugs and oxygen cylinders at least 10 times the usual price they usually sell to desperate families. At the same time, Paliwal says VIP politicians and celebrities are receiving “red carpet treatment and the best doctors available to them,” even if ordinary people are not to blame.

Meanwhile, deaths continue to rise.

“I saw six or seven corpses cremated at once and in a hurry as we were on the ground to cremate our mother’s last rites. There is no dignity in death either. They have left the whole citizen in their greatest need by those who hold the highest office, who have given the order to serve and protect them. This has led to millions of Indians surviving this pandemic. “