Madan Mohan Malviya hospital in Delhi is overcrowded with patients during city's worst dengue crisis.
It's late afternoon at Delhi's Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital but the crowds are still surging. With Delhi suffering from its worst dengue crisis in five years, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Sunil Sharma tries to give everyone a patient hearing. This is not the first round and won't be his last either.
One worried mother, Gayatri Yadav, stops the doctor asking him to look at her papers, while a crowd of others ask about symptoms and treatment.
Dr Sharma, assuaging all concerns, gives a detailed explanation while saying "all urgent cases are being looked into on priority non-stop so don't worry."
Gayatri Yadav's daughter was being treated at a private hospital but 15 days on, she still had high fever, so Ms Yadav has brought her here.
At the emergency ward hundreds are coming in as well. One girl, being looked at by doctors, collapses right in front of us. There is no let up for the doctors or nursing staff.
These patients are all critical, therefore, no one can be ignored. Two patients share each bed as the hospital has a bed strength of 100 but gets 3500 patients daily. This morning alone the emergency has got 800 patients. 28-year-old resident doctor Ritesh Kumar is hard at work - his six colleagues and the nursing staff that haven't had a water or coffee break in hours.
"It's non-stop one by one and then we have to see the critical patients also... it is really hectic," said Dr Kumar.
Dr Sharma admits that in this time of panic, no patient can be ignored. "We are seeing all patients, emergency or no emergency."
The hospitals have been asked to recruit MBBS students and other doctors on deputation to help out, setting up parallel clinics aligned to hospitals nearby.
Dr Chugh, Medical Superintendent, says "Government has allowed us to recruit more manpower - in fact we have recruited 15 docs today itself. These will help in the hospital and the clinics that we have been asked to set up."
Over 25 people have died due to dengue this year in Delhi and more than 4,000 people have been affected.