Over 450 COVID patients in queue for ICUs, ventilators in B'luru [shocking details]

With the second wave of COVID-19 tightening its grip, India continues to face a significant challenge. Karnataka is one of the worst-affected states reporting record-high cases and deaths, and Bengaluru has emerged as an epicentre of COVID-19 cases. As a result of this, the ground reality of the prevailing situation is highly disturbing.

Bengaluru has been grappling with a shortage of beds for quite some time, especially after the outbreak of the second COVID wave. The demand for ICUs and ventilators across the city is a major cause for concern. The city's COVID tally now stands at over 25,000, and there's no sign of slowing down.

Hundreds of patients in queue for ICUs, ventilators

The shocking ground reality of people waiting outside hospitals for ICUs and ventilators is gut-wrenching. International Business Times has learned through ground sources that over 450 COVID patients are currently in the queue for ICU beds and ventilators in different parts of Bengaluru. On Saturday night, there were around 425 patients waiting for ICU and ventilators, and the number shot up to over 450 by Sunday morning 7 a.m.

As the situation looks grim for COVID patients and their families, help given so far is only scratching the surface. Many helpless people have turned to social media, Telegram and WhatsApp groups to get help procuring ICU beds and ventilators anywhere in the city. This is, besides, the acute shortage of oxygen in the city, where people are running from pillar to post in hopes to get an oxygen cylinder or concentrator to keep COVID patients stable while they wait for hospitals.

SOS requests flood social media

Twitter is flooded with SOS requests from families and relatives of COVID patients. While influencers are doing their best to amplify people's cries for help, many go unheard and not all requests get fulfilled. Many people who turned for help to the city's civic body, BBMP, couldn't either get through to the numbers provided or the numbers listed were unresponsive.

COVID patients in need of ICU and ventilator are often in critical condition and blood saturation is dangerously low, we have noticed from patient requests. In such a dire situation, having hundreds of critical patients on a waitlist in Bengaluru is a serious cause for concern.