ANANTAPUR: Death of AP Minor Irrigation Project (APMIP) district project director M. Subbarayudu for want of timely treatment for Covid-19 has again exposed the serious situation in the district. Shockingly, the official who was also a Covid special officer could not get a stretcher for himself to shift to the second floor at the government super specialty hospital. His brother-in-law carried him on his hands while his son carried the oxygen cylinder. They resorted to this desperate act after waiting for 10 minutes in vain for the staff to provide a stretcher even as the patient’s oxygen levels fell to 60.
It is learnt that Subbarayudu tested positive on Friday. He already had a nephrology-related issue. He was rushed to a private hospital at Aravinda Nagar in Anantapur, as his condition turned critical with respiratory problems. As there was no ventilator facility at the private hospital, the doctors recommended shifting him to another private hospital. Later, the patient was shifted to the government hospital.
At the hospital, treatment was delayed because of non-availability of beds in the emergency ward. On receipt of news, Anantapur MP T. Rangaiah and Collector Gandham Chandrudu directed the hospital authorities to immediately provide a ventilator to the patient, but there was no stretcher to take him to the second floor where it was located.
The son and the son-in-law of the patient could not wait anymore as the staff kept wasting time in fetching a stretcher. Then, the latter carried him, climbing up the stairs, while the former followed with the cylinder. As the MP and the Collector intervened, the patient was shifted to the ICU where he breathed his last. The district officers association expressed condolences to the family members of the deceased.
