Covid posing new challenges in UP every day

•  851620 ill of covid and 9830 died in UP
• Beds increasing; short against demand

Lucknow.  With every passing day covid appears to bring new challenges in Uttar Pradesh that has reported 851620 in 414 days since first case was reported on March 2, 2020.

The state government is taking new initiative everyday and announcing measures that officers attempt to fulfil but they fail to cater to the growing demand.

The state capital will be getting 4000 additional covid beds shortly but at present at least 5000 serious patients are looking for hospital admission and their peals land up nowhere.

Oxygen, remdesvir injection, and other medical facilities are hard to find as integrated covid control and command centre is flooded with calls and requests for admission.

In the state capital only the hospitals have to struggle everyday to get oxygen cylinders and dealers are landing up with a limited supply just enough to meet the day’s crisis.

The reserve stock of oxygen which is s routine feature of any hospitals is missing hence if the supply gets delayed by a few hours there will be an acute shortage.

An example of the same happened at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences.

The emergency ward that had 12 patients on ventilator reported one death. The ventilator malfunctioned here as the oxygen pressure went low. Many such issued are going unreported.

One of the hospitals in Alambagh had put up message for patients that they are stopping admissions temporarily due to lack of oxygen and shall resume admissions once they get oxygen.

“The oxygen stock is just at the lower end and everyday it is a struggle to get fresh stock for emergency patients who can not be denied anything,” said a senior doctors working in private hospital.

Now the state government has started attempts to increase the quote of oxygen for Uttar Pradesh and asked all industrial oxygen manufacturers to divert their production for medical use.

This diversion was done during the first wave also and experts feel it could have been done again in March so that hospitals have had enough stock if not surplus.

Getting admission in a covid hospital is like winning a war against a unseen enemy – the virus that can not be seen by naked eyes.

The battle is round-the-clock as telephone lines keep ringing at covid command centre endlessly and still the wait does not end.

Lucknow has over 4000 beds and another 5000 are in the process. But the videos being shared on the whats app about the ill-treatment by medical staff is harrowing.

Requests for admissions keep piling up with the district officials coordinating with about 40 covid hospitals in the city.

Even requests are entertained after a day or two while those going through proper channel, without any source, are waiting for up to four days to get a bed in a covid hospital.

“Quick admission is the key to speedy recovery. Both physical and mental well being. Any delay is just adding to the problem and also postponing recovery thereby extending the hospital stay of a patient who could have recovered early,” said doctors.

Getting doses of remdesvir is a hurculion task these days as relatives of positive cases look for it right from by-lanes in Lucknow to other metros such as Delhi and Mumbai and are ready to place its order at any cost.

The state government has announced 25000 remdesvir have been brought and more are being coordinated by minister of state himself.

Help seems at doorstep but the step seems too far due to rising deaths and cases. Help actually is needed right away