The coronavirus outbreak in Maharashtra has reached acute levels as the contagion is now rapidly spreading through the front line forces such as doctors and police personnel. Recently, a general physician(GP) from Chembur, Mumbai was the third doctor to die from the menace of COVID-19.
The wife of the deceased doctor has now levelled serious allegations of negligence and dereliction against the Maharashtra government. She has alleged that for critical hours when the general physician was in utmost need of hospitalisation, the couple received no help from the helpline number run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation(BMC).
The general physician (GP) developed a mild fever on May 11 after which he suspected of being affected by the coronavirus. His blood test indicated the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19. On May 14, he sent his swab sample to test for COVID-19. The next day, the GP had developed weakness and his oxygen saturation level was below 88 per cent. His colleagues suggested him to get hospitalised.
As per the account of the doctor’s wife, the couple struggled from 3-8 PM to get him admitted. She claimed that the helpline number (1916) provided by BMC was of no help. “Initially they said there is one bed at Nair hospital. When we agreed to admit him at the hospital, another attendant claimed there was no bed left at the hospital. They couldn’t give us any bed in Mumbai,” said his wife.
Furthermore, even the private hospitals denied any having beds to admit the infected doctor. It was only after another doctor managed to scrape in a bed at the SRV hospital, the GP was shifted there. However, the family also faced troubles in getting an ambulance to transport the husband to the hospital. “Despite being a doctor, I never imagined I would go through such helplessness. I read about the unavailability of beds in hospitals but until you experience it firsthand, you don’t understand it is for real,” the wife said.
The doctor was subsequently admitted to the hospital on May 15 and moved to the Intensive Care Unit. He died of the infection on Thursday, at around 7:30 PM. The doctor is survived by his wife and mother, who have been quarantined at home, and a son who stays in the United States of America.
The death of the doctor, 3rd one in the financial capital of the country, highlights the sorry state of the city amidst the raging coronavirus pandemic. When doctors and police personnel, those amongst the front-line forces of the country to battle the coronavirus are not provided with the required attention and care when they fall ill, it is beyond imagination the fate of general public at large.
Uddhav Thackeray government’s bungled response to coronavirus crisis
The Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra has been at the receiving end of criticism for bungling the response to the coronavirus outbreak. Maharashtra tops the list of states with the highest number of coronavirus cases. Mumbai, the state capital, accounts for 60 per cent of the state’s total coronavirus cases, has emerged as the most potent coronavirus hotspots in the country. The state recently witnessed the highest daily spike of 2,940 cases.
While the cases steadily mounted in Maharashtra, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra was busy cutting an admirable figure for itself by prematurely indulging in PR exercises to promote its response to the COVID-19. Bollywood celebrities were allegedly roped in to lavish praises on the Maharashtra state government’s handling of the outbreak. “Worli Koliwada model” was projected by the Maharashtra government as a paragon of a containment zone to be replicated elsewhere, only to be realised later that the infection has galloped insidiously, shattering the carefully and assiduously cultivated mirage of a perfect containment zone.