A 38-year-old Delhi Police Head Constable died of COVID-19 on Tuesday. With little luck at five hospitals in the Capital, his family took him to three hospitals in Meerut before finding a bed.
Hailing from Meerut, Harish Tanwar was a resident of north-east Delhi’s Karawal Nagar and was posted in Outer North Delhi’s Samaipur Badli police station and was on duty till April 14.
After completing his night duty, he returned home and felt feverish. He had fever for three days, but on Sunday evening, he started facing breathing problems,” said deceased’s cousin Sanjay Kumar. He is an assistant sub-inspector in the force.
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Tried many hospitals
Recalling the ordeal, Harish’s brother Ompal, a DTC staffer who was with him throughout this time, said that he and a few others tried over five hospitals in Delhi starting Sunday evening till late into the night but couldn’t get help.
“All his seniors were aware of his situation and knew that we were looking for a hospital but nobody helped. But who can you blame when everyone else is facing the same problem,” the brother said.
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“Because we couldn’t get a bed here in Delhi, we had to take a huge risk of taking him in that situation to Meerut. There as well, we had to make many calls to get admission in hospitals,” Mr. Ompal said.
Harish was first admitted in Santosh Hospital where his COVID-19 test was conducted and around 4 p.m., he tested positive. “The doctors said that his lungs were 90% damaged and they referred him to a better facility,” Mr. Kumar said.
Later, Harish was taken to IIMT Life Line Hospital where the family was allegedly told that they don’t have ventilator support but the hospital helped them find a bed in Sudha Hospital where the required system was available.
“Harish’s oxygen level kept dropping and he died around 2 a.m.,” Mr. Kumar said, adding that Harish was cremated on Tuesday morning.
He is survived by his parents, wife and two minor children. “They have a small piece of land. He was essentially managing the house because farming didn’t yield a lot of money,” he said.
Harish had joined Delhi Police in 2003 as constable and was promoted to Head Constable in 2014, the family said.
A total of 38 officers have died of COVID-19 in the force so far.