On Saturday, only after two hours of discharge from a private hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad, a 21-year-old student died at the jumbo COVID facility in Nehrunagar. The patient was in critical condition when she was discharged from the private hospital due to no vacant ICU bed.

The patient was a resident of Gharkul and was admitted to Dr D Y Patil Hospital in Pimpri 5 days ago. Doctors at the hospital said that the student was detected with COVID-19 a month ago but had later recovered. But she started feeling very uneasy for the last 5 days and her relatives then admitted her to the Dr D Y Patil Hospital.

Anita Adhikari, a relative of the patient and also a president of Nari Shakti Sanstha, Pimpri-Chinchwad said that on Saturday morning, doctors at the hospital said that no ICU bed was available and she should be shifted to another hospital.

Dr M S Barthwal, Head of the department at Dr D Y Patil Hospital, said that the patient was already suffering from a severe form of tuberculosis since a long period of time. One month before, she tested positive for COVID-19 but had recovered from the disease. However, her condition worsened and she required an ICU bed. The ICU beds in their hospital are reserved for COVID-19 patients, so they contacted another hospital in Moshi as a bed was available. They provided their ambulance for shifting her. But the patient’s relatives said that the Moshi hospital had no ICU beds available and instructed them to the jumbo COVID hospital at Nehrunagar.

Additional Municipal Commissioner at PCMC said that the patient already had TB and was brought to their COVID facility with a very low oxygen saturation level of 15 per cent. Since her oxygen saturation level was low. She was admitted immediately at the facility but died one-and-a-half hours later.

Adhikari claimed that the student was in good condition and was also talking to her relatives. Only because an ICU bed wasn’t available, they lost her. Even though the PCMC is claiming that ICU beds are available in the city, the facts are showing the opposite. She further said that they have lodged a complaint with the PCMC commissioner regarding how the serious patients are being made to run for getting an ICU bed.

Source: The Indian Express