COVID-19 surge | Delhi’s healthcare system overwhelmed at every level

From testing to finding oxygen support and a hospital bed, COVID-19 has left patients and their kin devastated

In the national capital, a horror story that starts with “I have fever” is being played out in almost every family as COVID-19 cases continue to surge. At every step of the way, from getting tested to finding oxygen support and a hospital bed, the healthcare system has been overwhelmed. Outside hospitals, and in makeshift COVID Care Centres (CCC), patients and attendants can be seen waiting in ambulances, cars, autorickshaws and even on the pavement, struggling to breathe as attendants scramble to plead with hospital security and staff to get patients admitted. Palam resident Shradha Singh, who lost her 42-year-old sister to the virus said, “She was doing fine initially. However, with a sudden drop in the oxygen saturation level, she required hospitalisation. We frantically searched for places that would take her in and even tried seeking help on social media. But the sheer amount of information — a lot of it not leading anywhere — became difficult. We took her to a hospital nearby and there, in the emergency ward itself, she passed away. This is unimaginable. We are in shock. Now we’re constantly thinking of whether there was anything more we could have done.”