‘Don’t capture hospital beds’: Hyderabad commissioner appeals to the rich

Hyderabad: In a fervent message to the general public, city police commissioner Anjani Kumar on Thursday appealed to the privileged classes to ty and avoid “capturing” hospital beds if they have non-fatal or ordinary symptoms of COVID-19. His message came on a day when the state recorded close to 8,000 new cases, and at a time when many in Hyderabad are running from pillar to post, to secure hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.

Kumar, in a voice message posted on Twitter, appealed to the public using the example of a Nagpur resident Narayan Dhabalkar, who reportedly gave up his hospital bed to so that a young person who needed it more could get treated. However, it may be noted that questions have been raised over the incident, as hospital authorities have denied witnessing any such thing.

In his message, Kumar, said “I appeal to all the rich people, who go to hospitals and occupy precious beds: At such a time of crisis, there will be a shortage of resources. THis is an unprecedentged international crisis. If you have money, it is a good thing. But please don;’t use it to capture hospital beds. Please understand the needs of other people. We can all make Hyderabad and Telangana a safer place.”

The commissioner ended his heartfelt appeal with this quote of famous writer Leo Tolstoy: ‘If you feel pain, you are alive. But if you feel the pain of others, then you are human’. Over the last few weeks, since cases of COVID-19 shot in Telangana, families of affected patients have been struggling to find hospital beds, especially in private hospitals. The state government also began procuring oxygen from other states to meet the demand as well.

Moreover, each private hospital bed is also costing patients anything between Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh, depending on the need for ventilators.