Covid Nightmares being faced in India

"This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but a whimper." - T. S. Eliot

This is going to be a long read so bear with me. Looking at the situation in India today is really scary, our whole infrastructure is collapsing while all our leaders are busy playing politics, holding rallies and trying to win elections - the people be damned. I think their thought process is “Kuch log marjayenge toh kya farak padta hai, kafi chutiye hai yaha jo hume vote denge” (What does it matter if a few people die, there are enough morons here who will vote for us). Hospitals are running out of oxygen, critical medication is in short supply, mostly being hoarded by traders and being sold on the black market at exorbitant costs, there are no beds available in hospitals, and hastily thrown up covid centers are catching fire killing the patients and scaring the populace. When ministers are questioned about this, their response is shut up or you’ll get a slap.

We are equal parts scared and furious with our leaders. It is not just the leaders which are to be blamed though. The people roam around freely don’t seem to understand the severity of the situation till someone in their circle gets affected, which is when they start blaming the government without realizing their own role in causing this crisis. The mismanagement of hospitals is also going to a different level. I have my own horror story about what happened when I got Covid (March end), which was just the start of the second wave. I shudder to think what would be happening today when the numbers are much worse. Although it pales in comparison to the nightmares faced by others, it does demonstrate what crumbling infrastructure looks like. 

When I was tested positive, based on my HRCT scan results I was advised hospitalization. We had to search for a day to find a hospital where a bed was available - Finally got one in Kohinoor Hospital, Kurla. It took 2 days of frantic calling by me and all my relatives to all the pharmacies we could find before we could arrange for the required Remidesivir. On admission, I was told that there are only 2 nurses available - extremely understaffed - for the floor and so I would have to be patient if I needed anything. Overall there were no complaints I have about the level of medical care I received although my horror started once the doctor told me I was to be discharged - this was 10am on 7th April. I had cashless hospitalization insurance, despite which I had paid an advance of Rs. 1,00,000 as a deposit. The paperwork from the ward I was in, to accounting was only released by 3pm - a consequence of being highly understaffed. Over the course of the remaining day whenever I asked, I was told billing is looking into it. Out of the 14 people in the Covid ward which I was in only 8 were released the same day. My paperwork was only sent to the insurance company, when I went down and started shouting at the top of my voice in the lobby at 2am - I was doing this when I had barely recovered from Covid. The insurance company was quite prompt and got back to them by 10 am the next day, however, I had to re-create the scene from the previous night and create a nuisance in their billing department and the ward I was in so that they processed my remaining paperwork and discharged me. I was the 9th person out of the 14 to be discharged, after waiting for 24 hours. The paperwork for the other 5 hadn’t even been processed yet. Not sure how much longer they had to wait.

Beds that could have been given to patients in serious need of hospitalization were being blocked by patients whom the doctors had deemed well enough to be discharged. I was not asked to pay a single penny, neither did they refund any of my deposit, which I was told I would receive in a few days - still not received in spite of multiple follow-ups. This was pure bureaucratic incompetence bordering on criminal negligence. On one hand, people are dying because of not getting beds in hospitals, on the other hospitals are wasting beds that should be made available to the public to simply ensure their paperwork was in order. The leadership (Atul Modak) who is in charge of the hospital should resign if he can’t handle the situation and let more competent people take over. I also hope the health ministry (Rajesh Tope) is able to punitively fine this hospital and others like them so that they can learn to value lives over bureaucratic non-sense. 

We need leaders who are responsible, take ownership of their mistakes and are actively working to make things better. Instead, we are cursed with this lot, who allowed a mass congregation like Kumbh to happen, who are busy holding rallies to win elections, who don’t give a damn whether the common man lives or dies as they get their money and the paperwork is in order. Long live Jingostan...

PS: Please share widely, people need to know what is happening here.