Harriet Benson Memorial Hospital, Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh, Central India
“The COVID-19 virus has hit the whole world hard. India is a potential tsunami waiting to explode….unfortunately in spite of the lockdown we face in this country. The government is doing what they can, I guess, but for 1.3 billion people, it’s an uphill task!
Harriet Benson Memorial Hospital is open unlike all the private hospitals in Lalitpur; even the district government hospital outpatient department is non-functional, which means we will soon be inundated with all kinds of cases and….exposure. Three days ago we admitted a 6-year-old child with burns over 40 percent of his body who was discharged from another place and desperate for continuance of help!
We have been approached by the government to prepare isolation beds, which I was able to defer by pointing out we are not equipped for that. [Ed. Note: Remember, most EHA hospitals have open wards with as many as 20 beds in each room.] We are more than willing to take on all the non-COVID cases, which itself is a huge number with all other places closed.
As of now we have some basic Personal Protective Equipment—only face masks and caps and gloves….and our supply of these is limited. There are simply none available to purchase.”
~ Dr. Thomas Bhanu
Emmanuel Hospital Association Canada 