Nashik: Concern over bed shortage as Covid cases surge

Shortage of hospital beds for Covid treatment has become a cause for worry amid a surge in cases in Nashik in Maharashtra.

Nashik: As the coronavirus cases have seen a steep rise in Maharashtra, lack of beds in the dedicated covid hospital led to the death of a patient in Nashik on Thursday.

According to the reports, two patients living in the Kamatwada area struggled hard to secure a bed even after visiting many hospitals in the city. Following this, a social activist, Deepak Doke took the patients to the Nashik Municipal Corporation headquarters and started an agitation for not getting a bed in the hospital.

The Municipal Commissioner directed the officials to secure beds for them in a hospital nearby. However, one of the patients, who was in his 30s died in the hospital after his oxygen level dropped.

An FIR has been lodged against the social activist for taking Covid patients to the agitating site.

When ETV Bharat spoke to Deepak, he said that the patients can get bed only after agitation. "If you come to the municipal headquarters, then only you can get a bed, else you have to roam here and there."

Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 43,183 new COVID-19 cases and 249 deaths on Thursday.

The state has the largest share of coronavirus cases in the country. Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur circles continued to cause worries on account of the zooming figures of deaths and infections, followed by Aurangabad, Latur, Akola and Kolhapur circles. The state currently has 367,897 active coronavirus cases and has reported over 54,000 related deaths so far.