Bengaluru residents have spoken about the difficulties in finding hospital beds (Representational)
A still born baby's delivery started in an auto in India's IT city Bengaluru - something that should quite simply never happen.
The hospital where the baby was finally delivered told NDTV that the woman had been examined and scanned by doctors at the facility hours earlier, but the family had left with the patient on their own after being told the foetus was not alive
But the family says they went from hospital to hospital looking for admission before coming back to the first hospital - by that time the woman had gone into labour and she delivered the baby in the labour room.
From the time coronavirus cases started spiking in Bengaluru - patients and their families have spoken about the difficulties in finding hospital beds for COVID-19 or non-COVID related issues. Not all the delayed admissions end in death. But not even a single one should.
The government is defensive.
Dr Sudhakar, Medical Education Minister, told NDTV, "You people should also speak about mostly the good things that happen in the government hospitals. Unfortunately, the media is trying to cover only the negative elements, which is really disheartening."
Hospitals say without a COVID-19 test result, they do not know whether the patient can be kept with coronavirus or other patients and what treatment protocols should be followed.
Private hospitals have been told by the state government to not refuse COVID-19 patients and reserve 50 per cent of their beds for coronavirus patients. The hospitals must also display availability of beds at the reception.
B Sriramulu, state Health Minister, said that 99 per cent of hospitals are cooperating.
"Notices have been sent to those who aren't. They will be locked down if they don't cooperate," he added.
Special teams have been formed to monitor the compliance of hospitals. And notices have been sent to hospitals that violate these orders. Two private hospitals had their OPDs shut for 48 hours for turning a patient away. Officially, beds are still available for patients.
Whatever the constraints, with the numbers of patients only increasing, the race for hospital beds is one nobody can afford to lose.