A 52-year-old man in Bengaluru, who was experiencing shortness of breath, died on Sunday night after being allegedly refused admission by 18 hospitals in the city, reports said. According to his family, they had also dialed up 30-32 other hospitals during the same period, but none of them agreed to accommodate him.
The patient, a resident of Nagarathpet, was experiencing high fever and breathlessness for around 36 hours, prior to his death at the doorsteps of a major hospital which had finally agreed to admit him.
The Times of India quoted the patient's nephew as saying that the hunt to admit his uncle went on throughout Saturday. “We fell at their feet to admit our uncle,” he told the paper, explaining how the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital turned down their plea.
On Sunday night, the same hospital agreed to admit him after the family showed them the acknowledgment that his samples has been given for testing. However, he succumbed to his illness just before being admitted.
His nephew said even the hospitals mentioned in the list of designated private hospitals for COVID-19 treatment had declined to admit the patient.
“You name all the reputed hospitals, we visited them. They didn’t allow us to enter the building and as soon as we said that there was a case of breathlessness. They said there is no ICU vacant or no vacant bed. We don’t want others to go through this ordeal. The government must find a solution for this,” he told TOI.
