Vishakapatnam On Ventilator

A report in Andhrajyothy paints a grim picture of the COVID condition in Vishakapatnam, the proposed Executive capital of Andhra Pradesh. There have been 61 COVID hospitals in the district with 6,528 beds but the patients with COVID reports are finding beds nowhere.

Before some hospitals, we get to see a queue of patients waiting in ambulances and their vehicles. One patient will be allowed only if a patient inside gets discharged. There is no system where one can know where a bed is available. If the queue system is to be bypassed, you need a recommendation.

There is rampant black marketing of Remdesivir injections. The injections are being sold between 30,000 and 40,000 Rupees. The same is the case for other COVID drugs. Even those in Government hospitals are being asked to get injections from outside.

There has been a gross difference between the official count of deaths in the health bulletins and in the bodies brought to various crematoriums. “The city seems to be like on a ventilator. The entire system is broken,” Aditya, a local of Seethammadaara told us.