Family Shuttles Between Home, Hospital for 'Missing' Man Taken Away as Suspected Coronavirus Patient

It has been more than a week that Ankit Kumar and his mother Poonam Dev have been shuttling between home, hospital and police station hoping to get an update on his father's condition who "was taken away in an ambulance on May 24".

The father, Ram Dev (60), suffers from tuberculosis. He had trouble breathing for the last few days, according to Kumar, a resident of Ashok Vihar.

"The local dispensary informed authorities about my father. An ambulance arrived at our home and took him to Sultanpuri COVID Care Centre. The medical staff pasted a poster on our gate and asked us to remain in isolation for 14 days," he said.

The situation took a curious turn after three-four days.

A person called the family from the COVID care centre in Sultanpuri twice during the isolation period, and enquired about the health of their father, Kumar said.

"We were shocked. It is the COVID care centre which should have informed us about his health. They started asking us instead," he said.

"It left us in a dilemma whether to complete our quarantine period or go out looking for my father," Kumar said, adding that when they called a COVID helpline they were asked to strictly follow the norms and stay put at home.

After completing the mandatory quarantine period, Kumar and his mother went to the Sultanpuri facility where officials told them that Ram Dev had been shifted to Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Hospital.

"When we approached the hospital authorities, no one told us clearly where my father was," Kumar said.

It is only when the mother-son duo threatened to make a video and upload it on social media that a doctor intervened and informed them that the father was in ward number 30.

"When we asked him to make my father talk to us on the phone or record a video so that we know he is there, alive, the doctor said it was not possible," he said.

"One day, they said he was in ward number 30. The next day they said he was in the ICU," Kumar said.

The family has been living on whatever ration their neighbours and relatives provide them.

"My mother used to sell tea opposite the Deep Cinema. Now the stall is closed since the lockdown began. We spend around Rs 250 everyday on travelling between home, hospital and police station. My maternal uncle gives us some money, but for how long?" he said.

On Saturday, Poonam Dev approached the Kamla Market police station, alleging that the hospital staff had not been sharing information about her husband's health.

A policeman spoke to the hospital staff, who assured help, but nothing has happened so far.

An officer at the police station said the case doesn't fall under their purview and that a policeman had offered to help the woman on humanitarian grounds.

A reaction from the hospital authorities is awaited.