Desperate for beds, Covid patients protest outside BSY’s house, Soudha

BENGALURU: With Covid-19 cases piling up and oxygenated beds becoming scarce in Bengaluru, patients' families are taking to desperate measures. On Thursday, a patient's wife, tired of not finding hospital beds to admit her critically-ill husband, staged a sit-in protest outside Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa's official residence, in a sign of the crisis Karnataka is facing with resource shortage to tackle the pandemic.

Although her protest caught the attention of CMO officials and an ambulance and bed were arranged for her Covid-positive husband, he passed away en route to hospital, in a tragic turn of events. The deceased was identified as a resident of Ramohalli, near Bengaluru outskirts. The family had searched for beds in more than a dozen hospitals before arriving at the Chief Minister's doorstep in desperation.

In another incident on Thursday, a family of a Covid patient protested outside Vidhana Soudha. The patient's daughter told the media that her mother's condition was deteriorating, but they were unable to find a hospital bed.

Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar had to intervene and arrange a bed for the ailing patient at a government hospital, after which she was shifted for further treatment. Youth Congress leader Mohammed Nalapad arrived outside Vidhana Soudha to join the protest staged by the family, only to be taken into custody by police later.