New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) The alarming rate at which the Covid-19 pandemic has spread across the country has once again forced poor people to live on the pavements. On the one hand an infected patient is admitted to a hospital while on the other hand their families are forced to sleep on the footpath outside the hospital.
The family members of the infected patients are themselves at a higher risk of contracting the virus. The Centre and the state governments have urged people to stay at home but showing concern for the lives of their dear ones suffering from the virus, several families are in a hapless condition on the roads.
Some Covid patients have been sleeping on the pavements outside hospitals for 20 days while some have come all the way from the neighbouring states to Delhi and are staying on the roads.
The families of corona patients admitted to Delhi’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital have made temporary arrangements on the pavements outside the hospital such as a mosquito net to prevent mosquito bites while in some cases a bed has also been arranged outside the hospital.
Anita, a resident of Delhi’s Karaval Nagar, has been sleeping with a blanket on the pavement outside the LNJP Hospital. She told IANS, “I have been staying here for more than 20 days now, in the daytime women stay here and at night the men in the family come and sleep on the pavement.”
Anita’s sister is hospitalised with Covid-19 infection in LNJP hospital. According to her family, she is now reportedly stable.
Saurav, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, works in Noida. His wife is undergoing treatment at the LNJP hospital for Covid-19 infection. He said to IANS, “I have been staying on the footpath since my wife’s admission to the hospital on April 30. However, at night, I leave for Noida because the next day I have to bring food for her.”
“It is not safe to stay on the footpath at night so I don’t stay here anymore as mobile phone snatchers and criminals have been having a field day here,” Saurav said.
Some people distribute food once a day outside the hospital, Saurav added.
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