COVID:19: Four Resident Doctors Granted Admission to KGMU After Initial Denial

Lucknow: Four doctors from King George’s Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow were initially denied beds at the facility after they tested positive for COVID-19 while treating infected patients.

A week after doctors on duty at the COVID-19 ward in KGMU complained to authorities of being provided with shoddy accommodation and “poor quality of food with larvae,” they were deprived of beds at one the leading hospitals in Uttar Pradesh.

In July, the four KGMU doctors were denied admission at their own institute due to a lack of beds, despite them testing positive for COVID-19. After 24 hours of arguments with the hospital authority, the four were shifted to the emergency ward for treatment.

According to reports, a resident doctor from the orthopedic department and four resident doctors of the medicine department tested positive on Thursday. The doctors were advised to quarantine themselves in a hostel; other doctors who were already living in the premises opposed their stay.

"If this has happened to doctors who worked in a hospital’s COVID-19-ward, what is happening to a common man in these state-run hospitals in Uttar Pradesh is anybody’s guess,” said a resident doctor of KGMU, also a member of the Resident Doctors' Welfare Association (RDWA). The doctor, who did not wish to be named, has also tested positive for COVID-19. They told NewsClick that they were infected while treating COVID-19 patients and that they were being denied beds.

“This is happening due to the mismanagement of the COVID-19 team in KGMU. There are three to four people who are policymakers in the team. They are the ones who are in-charge of everything – management, accommodation, treatment and food,” they added.

“A few days ago, Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister claimed that there were lakhs of beds for patients, but as COVID-19 cases increase, instances of disorder are coming to light. This is happening at KGMU, just a few kilometres away from the CM's house. Its employees themselves are not getting beds,” the doctor added, saying that it was “inhuman” to be treated this way, at a time when the government “is claiming that they are doing so much for their (the people’s) well being.”

NewsClick spoke to a member of the COVID-19 team at KGMU; he confirmed that even after several verbal complaints, authorities have hardly taken a note of their problems.

Lucknow reported 391 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, and 14 deaths due to the disease. A total of 4,559 people were discharged from hospitals from the capital.

According to data issued by the Uttar Pradesh Health Department, with 3,953 new COVID-19 cases reported in the state on Sunday, the total tally was at 92,921. The total number of deaths were 1,730 with 53 deaths reported on Sunday. Till date, 53,357 people have been discharged from hospitals in Uttar Pradesh while there were 37,834 active cases in the state.

NewsClick had earlier reported an eight-fold rise in COVID-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh over one and half months, due to poor healthcare facilities.