The sudden increase in new reported cases of Covid-19 in Uttar Pradesh’s capital city has put a strain on healthcare facilities in Lucknow. The state of Uttar Pradesh has established a coronavirus command centre to help patients get proper care and drugs more quickly.
A reported interaction between a Covid-19 patient in Lucknow and a member of the coronavirus command centre has raised deep questions about the system placed in place to assist patients and their families in what can only be identified as a surprising case of apathy.
Santosh Kumar Singh, along with his wife, underwent Covid-19 testing on April 10. The couple decided to self-isolate after experiencing symptoms of the disease.
Both Santosh Kumar Singh’s and his wife’s coronavirus tests came out positive on April 12.
Santosh Kumar Singh dialled the helpline after hearing from the Uttar Pradesh government that a single call to the Covid-19 command centre would support a patient.
On April 15, at 8:14 a.m., he got a callback.
In a 54-second phone call, a delegate from the Uttar Pradesh government’s Covid-19 command centre asks Santosh Kumar Singh if he has downloaded the home isolation software. When Singh told her that he had not been briefed about such an app, she told him to “go die.”
Santosh Kumar Singh has written a letter to Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and Abhishek Prakash, the Lucknow District Magistrate, highlighting the incident and requesting clarity.
“On Thursday, I wrote a letter to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, expressing my dissatisfaction with the helpline staff’s use of unparliamentary terms. Four members of our family are currently in quarantine (after testing positive for COVID-19) “Santosh Singh, the son of Manohar Singh, the former head of the BJP’s Lucknow city unit, agreed. It’s also worth noting that Santosh Kumar Singh’s father Manohar Singh is the former president of the BJP’s Lucknow Mahanagar unit, according to his letter to the chief minister.
