A 64-year-old man who tested positive for coronavirus on Friday died after collapsing right on the road near his home in south Bengaluru. His body lay there for three hours before an ambulance could reach the spot.
His wife said he had asked the ambulance to come to a point near their home to pick him, as they did not want to create panic in the neighbourhood. However, he collapsed on his way.
An official of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said there was a communication failure in getting the ambulance reach the spot and action would be initiated against whoever is found guilty of the lapse. The evening rains further led to delays.
Only a week ago, a 52-year-old man died in the ambulance after nearly 18 hospitals refused to admit him. A show-cause notice has been issued to these hospitals asking why they had rejected the patient, as alleged by his nephew who desperately tried to get his uncle some medical help.
On Friday, the government issued a list of 73 private hospitals where 50 per cent beds will be set aside for COVID-19 patients.
"Patients with severe distress will not be denied admission by any institution even if the lab reports are not available," the Health Department said in a statement.
Mobile numbers of a contact person at each hospital was put out, along with those of nodal officers from the BBMP for each of these hospitals.
Following large-scale instances of bad coordination, the government on Friday also announced the formation of 8,800 booth-level task forces to ensure better coordination between the civic and health officials.
"There would be hyper-local management with these committees being set up for better monitoring and surveillance," Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said.
Principal Secretary of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department LK Atheeq, who had set up such committees at gram panchayats and was able to effectively control the spread of infections, has been made in-charge of the BBMP booth committees now.
Bengaluru reported its highest single-day tally of 994 cases on Friday. The IT city saw over 500 cases being registered every day over the last six days.
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