BHOPAL: Rajesh Bansal’s father and elder brother have been admitted to Hamidia Hospital for treatment of Covid-19. Rajesh and his younger brother, Arvind, remain on duty at the hospital round the clock, but take turns. Rajesh relieves Arvind at 8 o’clock in the morning. He brings breakfast—consisting of cornflakes and milk—for his brother and father, while Arvind goes back home to Malviya Nagar and takes some rest. In the meantime, Rajesh’s son also reaches the hospital to assist his father. He brings prescribed medicines from the shops nearby.
Two days ago, he was jostling with the crowds to buy Remdesivir injections and running from one shop to another in the city. He was successful in buying them—although at a highly exorbitant price—on the second day.
This story is not only of one Rajesh and Arvind, but there are thousands of such relatives who spend considerable time in Covid-dedicated hospitals among corona-positive patients. They move around the city struggling for oxygen and Remdesivir injections and other life-saving drugs.
Most of them later test corona-positive. But, by then, they have infected several others at the medicine shops, oxygen-refilling plants, at home and at the vegetable and milk vendors’ outlets. “They’re not doing it wilfully. They’re left with no other option. Considering the resource crunch at the hospitals, relatives are taking care of their patients,” said Dr Sanjay Singh, a private practitioner. “Moreover, one more person is required to struggle for arranging for life-saving drugs,” he added.
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