No hope: Covid patients, suspects turned away; day one sees chaos

New Delhi: As the much-awaited Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre and Hospital threw its doors open on Monday morning in South Delhi's Chattarpur area, despair, cries and incessant pleading with government officials is what followed as the hopes of scores of serious Covid patients and suspects and their families crashed the moment they learned that here too they would not be able to get a bed.

A large number of patients, many of whom had started queueing up early in the morning, were turned away from the Centre, either citing that the facility would not take walk-in admissions or that the District Surveillance Officer, whose job it is to evaluate the patients for admission, had disqualified the patient for admission at this facility.

Officials said that of the 500 oxygenated beds that were made available on Monday, only 123 were filled by the end of the day as several other patients waited outside the facility, gasping for air, unable to decide where to go, after already having been rejected by multiple hospitals.

As per the rules, only those approved for admission by the DSO can be admitted at the hospital and currently the facility was only agreeing to admit those with a SpO2 level above 85.

Outside the centre, women, including the elderly, were in tears, some also lost patience and started shouting as they had come with the hope of getting treatment. "Tamasha bana diya hai (They've made it a drama)," a girl was seen shouting at policemen as several others pleaded with the authorities to let their relatives in for treatment.

Many were seen consoling each other as several others were frantically making calls, without any clarity on whether they will get a bed at the centre. Heart-wrenching scenes outside the centre included relatives pleading with authorities, saying their family members were on the verge of dying. One woman, crying incessantly, after having waited for hours outside the centre, shrieked that her loved one's pulse was no longer available.

Some stationed themselves inside their cars and they made phone calls to see if they can get the patient admitted. Several of the patients and their family members also desperately tried to dial the DSO helpline numbers provided but only find them busy or unresponsive.

When asked, a Delhi government official first claimed all numbers were ringing and being picked but later said, the lines are bound to be busy if so many were to call.

One ITBP official said at around 10.30 am the first patient, an elderly woman was admitted to the SPCCC. "SPCCC has admitted 123 patients on day one," a senior official said.

And amid all the chaos, long queues of ambulances with patients were lined up near the centre till as late as 10 pm on Monday. Relatives of patients were using a hand fan or piece of clothes in a bid to get some relief from the heat during the day as the patients waited for the documentation to be cleared.

As for the upending chaos on day one, official sources have said, "The facility has just started, with time it will get settled." About 200 doctors and paramedic staff are posted at the centre and when asked whether patients from other states or NCR district will be allowed in, officials said they would not.