Coronavirus Pandemic: People Struggle to Get Tested For COVID-19 or Find Hospital Bed in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, Narrate Ordeal

New Delhi, June 6: India is reporting a record number of coronavirus cases almost daily this week. As the number of cases is rising, reports are emerging from various parts of the country where hospitals are running short of beds to treat patients infected with the coronavirus. Social media is flooded with ordeals when people struggled to get their kin admitted to a hospital or tested for coronavirus (COVID-19). Such reports are coming from Delhi, Mumbai, Gurugram and other cities. India Records Highest Single-Day Spike of 9,887 New COVID-19 Cases in Past 24 Hours, Death Toll Jumps to 6,642.

On Twitter, journalist Kunal Purohit from has written that five high-risk patients in his family have not been tested for coronavirus. He tweeted: "2 days and 6 hours into my uncle's death, we have 5 high-risk patients in the family. Two of them are symptomatic, one has co-morbidity. But, the BMC has NOT tested them, there is NO contact tracing not even an advisory on what they must do till the BMC reaches them (sic)." Coronavirus Outbreak: India's Recovery Rate Close to 50%, Mortality Rate Down to 2.83%.

Kunal Purohit Narrates How He Struggled to Get Tested:

Varun Vats, a resident of Delhi's Rohini, has narrated his ordeal on Facebook that how he had to run from pillar to post to get tested for coronavirus after one of his cousins contracted the virus. In his port, Vats said when he tried to take help from the Aarogya Setu app and other helpline numbers, he did not receive prompt responses. According to him, two government-run hospitals turned him away, saying they were not testing people for coronavirus.

Ashok Agarwal, a lawyer in Delhi, shared a video of an elderly coronavirus suspect who was not given admission to any hospital. In another video, shared by one Arun Bothra, a man is seen highlighting violations of social distancing norms inside Delhi's Safdarjung hospital. The man says dead bodies of COVID-19 patients are kept with those getting treatment. He further says that his sister-in-law died of coronavirus after she did not get treatment.

'Hospitals Turning Away COVID-19 Patients'

Rukhsar Saleem wrote on Twitter that her COVID-19 positive father-in-law couldn't get admitted to Gurugram's Medanta hospital because all beds were occupied. My 69yrs old Father-in-law, COVID Positive - severe lung (ILD) Patient. Heart Patient l Cancer survivor. Has been suggested URGENT Hospitalisation. NO bed available in #Medanta. We have been trying from afternoon. Please help (sic)," she wrote on June 4, tagging Gurugram District Collector and Haryana Chief Minister's Office.

Rukhsar Saleem's Desperate Call For Help:

Bollywood producer Anil Suri, who had backed films like Raaj Kumar-Rekha starrer Karmayogi and Raaj Tilak, died of coronavirus on June 4. Anil’s brother, film producer Rajiv Suri alleged that two hospitals in Mumbai had refused admission. "He was rushed to the top hospitals, Lilavati and Hinduja, but both denied him a bed," Rajiv told news agency PTI.

In Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray government has taken over 80 percent beds in private hospitals for coronavirus positive patients. Similarly, in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has given a stern warning to private hospitals over coronavirus patients. The state government has also decided to deploy health department officials in private hospitals to ensure availability of beds to each and every COVID-19 patient. Kejriwal has also dismissed reports that testing has stopped in the national capital. He suggested that mild or asymptomatic people should not rush for testing and those with symptoms should be tested.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Dismisses 'No Testing' Reports:

With 2,36,657 confirmed cases, India has now overtaken Italy, which has recorded 2,34,531 cases in total. Presently, there are 1,15,942 active cases and 6,642 deaths due to coronavirus. So far, a total of 1,14,073 patients have been cured of COVID-19 in India.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 06, 2020 03:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).