The man has no relative in the city and lives in a godown with two other persons, Vinod Singh said. (Representational Photo)

A 65-year-old man, who had a cough and was feeling breathless and wanted to visit a hospital to get tested for Covid-19, was told by the BMC 1916 helpline set up for Covid-19-related assistance that it could not send him an ambulance as the emergency vehicle could be provided only for patients who were confirmed to have the infection.

After futile attempts to access an ambulance on other emergency numbers such as 108 and 112 on Tuesday night, the man was eventually put in a taxi to Nair hospital in Mumbai Central by the local police on Wednesday morning, only to be ditched mid-way by the cabbie who panicked at his condition.

With great difficulty the man managed to find another cab, and got to the hospital around 1 pm.

The man lives in a godown in Byculla and sells mangoes for a living. He was administered a test for coronavirus at the hospital on Wednesday, and the result is yet to come.

Vinod Singh, who lives in Worli, and knows him as they are from the same Uttar Pradesh village, said he learnt about his condition at 8 pm on Tuesday.

It was Singh who called BMC’s helpline 1916 for an ambulance.

“The person who took my call said they provide ambulance only when a person is Covid-19 positive. If ambulances are only for Covid-19 patients, then how will a person with similar symptoms with no other transport available due to the lockdown reach hospital?” he asked.

The man has no relative in the city and lives in a godown with two other persons, Singh said.

“If he has to find his own transport, and his report comes positive, then how would BMC trace all the people who came in contact with him while he was getting to hospital by himself. There has to be a system for such patients,” he said.

Singh tried dialling 108 and 112, but both numbers were constantly busy.

Finally, Singh called the national helpline 1075, which asked the local police to provide help. Around 11 am, a police team reached him and arranged a taxi to take him to hospital.

However, after the cabbie came to know of his symptoms, about a kilometre from where he had picked him up, the taxi driver left him on the road to fend for himself, Singh claimed. “He called me again. He was breathing heavily and it was not possible for him to walk to hospital,” Singh said.

The man then decided to return to the godown but after the owner learnt about his symptoms, he too told him he was no longer welcome there. Finally, after scouting around on his own, he found a taxi at 1 pm to take him to Nair hospital.

“It took him over 12 hours to get admitted in hospital. The authorities should ensure such people get ambulance on time,” Singh said. When contacted, Deputy Executive Health Officer Dr Daksha Shah said that the helpline number 1916 is only for Covid-19 patients and they provide ambulance only for patients who have tested positive. “For other patients 108 can be reached,” she said.