𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐇𝐈 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃-𝟏𝟗?
I fear that I am COVID Positive because of my contact with a corona diagnosed patient. Please read patiently what I had to go through for the past 3 days since my cousin’s test report came positive.
I am Varun Vats, a resident of Rohini, Delhi. I am having the symptoms of Corona (Fever, Cough, Cold and Headache) since I came in contact with my cousin who was found to be positive on 1st June, after which I decided to get myself tested.
𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 1: I updated my status in the so much-hyped “Arogya Setu App”. It provided me with a link of labs that was unfortunately not opening. I dialed ‘1075’ – Central Govt. Helpline for COVID-19 and they provided me with the helpline number of Delhi Govt. (011-22307145). After an effort of 1 hour, someone picked the call and told me to visit “Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital”, a Delhi Government Hospital located at Rohini West, Delhi.
𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 2: 𝐎𝐧 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞, 𝐈 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐤𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 around 12:30 PM along with the report of my cousin. I got a token from the counter and they asked to wait till 3 PM. As usual after my patience was tested, my turn came around 4:20 PM when I heard something unexpected. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, “𝐀𝐛𝐡𝐢 𝟐 𝐝𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐡𝐢 𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐞, 𝐚𝐚𝐩𝐤𝐨 𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐢 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚 𝐡𝐮” (No COVID Tests are happening for the next 2 days. I am giving you an appointment for the 4th of June). I came back home with a hope to get tested after 2 days since my symptoms were not that serious.
𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 3: 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐨𝐧 𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞, 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟎:𝟏𝟓, not expecting any more surprises. I encountered some people and got to know that they also came for COVID tests but no one was collecting samples. I went to the Sample Collection Counter of Ambedkar Hospital (From the Gate No. 2). 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 “𝘼𝙗𝙝𝙞 𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙖𝙝𝙄 𝙝𝙤 𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙚. 𝙐𝙥𝙖𝙧 𝙨𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙣𝙖𝙝𝙞 𝙖𝙖𝙮𝙞” (𝙏𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨). Then I, along with other people went to another counter with the same questions but no one listened to our pleas. So once again I dialed the Delhi COVID Helpline. The lady on the other line knew the situation even before I told her anything. I just told her my area and she immediately said: “𝘼𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙙𝙠𝙖𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙞 𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙖𝙝𝙞 𝙝𝙤 𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙞 𝙣𝙖, 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙖𝙥 𝙈𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙟𝙖 𝘼𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙣 𝘽𝙝𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙣, 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧-5, 𝙍𝙤𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙞 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙟𝙖𝙤 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙖𝙥𝙠𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙞 𝙩𝙤”. (Since Testing is not going on in Ambedkar Hospital, you can go to Maharaja Agrasen Bhawan, Sector 5, Rohini if you have the prescription). I answered in the affirmative about the prescription after which I was provided with the Testing Centre Address.
𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 4: 𝐈 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐣𝐚 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐧, 𝐒𝐞𝐜-𝟓 𝐑𝐨𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐢. The 2 watchmen sitting at the gate asked me the purpose of my visit after which I narrated to them about my entire ordeal. One of them said “𝐁𝐡𝐚𝐢 𝐲𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐡𝐢 𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐊𝐢𝐭 𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐚𝐲𝐢” (Bro there is no Testing going on here. No kits are available). I told them that I had been told by the state helpline forum to visit the hospital but they were obviously helpless and said “Hum kya kar sakte hain, jo hai aapke saamne hai”. (What can we do? Whatever it is, it’s not hidden from anyone).
𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 5: I came out of that place and dialed a Private Lab. I was tired and angry of repeating the same narrative to each and everyone. By now, my symptoms were getting worse in terms of cough and weakness. The operator picked up the call, to whom I frustratingly narrated my entire story. 𝐇𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, “𝐒𝐢𝐫, 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐳𝐲𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐡𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝟐-𝟑 𝐃𝐢𝐧 𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐚𝐩 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚”. (Sir cases are increasing drastically. We do not have testing kits available. You please inquire after 2-3 days).
𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 6: I was still hoping that some Private lab should be able to help me with this, and thus 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞 “𝐒𝐢𝐫, 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐭. 𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝟐-𝟑 𝐝𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐢.” (Sir these are Government Orders. There’s no testing at least for the next 2-3 days. ) . I was frustrated as anything and thought there is something wrong with this. After this I tried calling numerous private labs to get myself tested but everybody gave me the same response.
Now I am lying at my home with Fever, Cough, Cold, Headache and Weakness self quarantined at home but Government just cares about the Corona Tally of Delhi.
Who will be responsible if somebody like me goes on an unintentional virus spread and spreads it to people at risk, and older people like my parents at my home?
Who will be responsible if somebody like me is critical but doesn’t have co-morbidities that the Government is talking about? Forget about Hospital Beds, we don’t even have Testing infrastructure.
𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬? 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦?
𝐍𝐨 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐍𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 – 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐌 𝐀𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐞𝐣𝐫𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐡𝐢.
One more thing to consider, “Delhi has recorded around 1200 cases in a day – very close to Mumbai’s total count”.
Good plan because not testing people would certainly keep Delhi’s count below other cities.
#THANKYOUKEJRIWAL
