Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
A COVID-19 positive patient Junaid (name changed) and his six-months pregnant wife Naziya (name changed), spent over 24 hours on the streets of Delhi, tossing between government hospitals and quarantine facilities, before he was finally admitted to a government hospital.
“The police were sitting right next to us. There were doctors and hospital staff, too, in the vicinity. But, all of them ignored us. We approached them for help but nobody came forward to help us. COVID-19 is such a disease, that spreads very fast.”Naziya, wife of Junaid, who is a COVID-19 patient
Junaid got a COVID-19 test done from a private lab on a doctor’s prescription after he developed symptoms. He spent Rs 4,500 on the test.
The couple then immediately rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital for treatment, after receiving the test reports. But they had no idea till then that getting a COVID-19 patient admitted to a hospital would be a herculean task, in spite of the fact, that the whole world is going through a lockdown to contain its spread. But here, a COVID-19 patient is left on the streets, unattended by the hospitals.
It took Junaid and Naziya nine trips in an auto rickshaw between five hospitals and a quarantine facility before Junaid got a bed and treatment at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital.
The Delhi government has assured to looked into the delay in Junaid’s admission in a hospital.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police has sealed Junaid’s house but his wife, sister, father and six-year-old daughter are yet to be tested for COVID-19.
Watch the video here.
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