Mysuru: ASHA worker too can’t get hospital bed in time

According to Kanyakumari, her husband Swamy (42), who has a host of co-morbidities, had tested positive for the disease.
Kanyakumari with her husband, Swamy, in Mysuru. (Photo | Udayshankar S, EPS)
Kanyakumari with her husband, Swamy, in Mysuru. (Photo | Udayshankar S, EPS)

MYSURU: Amidst all the claims and assurances of a ‘streamlined’ bed allocation system in Mysuru, an ASHA worker herself was made to knock on the doors of various hospitals in Mysuru and had to rush to Mandya district in a private cab just to find a bed for her Covid-19 infected husband.

The ordeal of the ASHA worker, who hails from Chamanahalli, Bannur, in T Narasipur taluk, continued all through Sunday till late evening on Monday despite calls to the district war room and visits to the Covid Mitras as well as physical triaging centres in the district as well as a frantic hospital run in Mandya.

According to Kanyakumari, her husband Swamy (42), who has a host of co-morbidities, had tested positive for the disease.

“In our taluk and also in Mysuru, our superiors asked us to isolate him at home. But his oxygen saturation level was rapidly falling below 85, his sugar level was in excess of 200 and his health was deteriorating. He needed medical help. Moreover, ours is a small house wi th a single washroom, ” Kanyakumari said.

The visit to Covid Mitras did not help and calls to the district war room yielded nothing. “They said we will be contacted, but to no avail. Since he complained of uneasiness, we rushed him to Seth Mohandas Tulsidas Hospital in Mysuru but they refused to admit us. Every other government hospital turned him away. Private hospitals demanded advance payment in excess of Rs 50,000 to admit him,” she said.

Dejected, she rushed him to Mandya where doctors asked to get the patient admitted, but washed their hands off saying there were no beds.

‘ASHA worker went through an ordeal’

After the matter was raised by fellow ASHA workers and their union, the authorities back in Mysuru assured a bed here. But when she returned, she was yet again denied a bed in the designated Covid-19 hospital. Finally, after another round of intervention by the union with the Narsipura Taluk Health Officer, the patient was shifted back to the T Narsipur taluk hospital where he was given an oxygen bed.

“They talk for hours claiming how smooth hospital admission and reaching medical care is, while showering praise on health workers. But, a worker, who is very much part of the fight against pandemic itself, was put through such an ordeal,” said Sandhya, State Treasurer of Karnataka Rajya Samyuktha ASHA Karyakartheyara Sangha.

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