War on Corona: Panic, chaos & long wait as people try to get tested

New Delhi: At Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, hoards of people are standing outside the Coronavirus testing centre and are complaining about the crowd, which is gathering and the long waiting hours they have to endure.

Speaking to Millennium Post, Shefali, a working professional, who had come to get herself checked said: "I have a soar throat from the past two days, so my office people sent me home. I came here to get checked but there is a four-hour waiting. It is better to go home rather than sitting among the crowd."

The hospital authorities are first giving out a form, which should have the following symptoms – cough, soar throat, fever, seating, breathlessness. "I am told, if I have all these symptoms, then I need to get checked immediately," she added.

Meanwhile, a few people refused to stand in line saying the crowd is unsafe. "Everywhere, we are listening to avoid the crowd and look at the hospital here, there are so many people here. How are we to get checked like this," he asked. A resident of Dwarka, the man was panicking, whereas his wife, who had a fever from the past three days was uncomfortable looking at the crowd.

"It would have been better to stay at home rather than standing in such a crowd," she added.

The doctors on duty tried to ease the situation, however, the angst was high among the people. Dr Poonam Charan, who works in RML Hospital, confirmed that the crowd has increased since Monday. "I am seeing more people coming in to get checked. Although, we are trying our best, but, as the crowd is increasing the waiting time is also increasing," she said.

She said that about 20 to 30 people are regularly testing negative for the virus. "Most of the people here are not with serious symptoms, but as they want to get the confirmation they are coming here. However, even people with a few matched symptoms are testing negative," she added.

People meanwhile were running here and there to understand the process.