Six Covid-positive cops wait over five hours for ambulance in Mangaluru

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MANGALURU: Five police personnel and a home guard from Ullal police station waited more than five hours for an ambulance after testing positive for Covid-19 on Monday. The six asymptomatic individuals finally got transport to a hospital around 4.30 pm, though authorities had asked them to assemble at the station by 11.30 am.

A Covid-positive officer from Ullal station told The New Indian Express that the delay left them frustrated. "We have been working day and night during the pandemic. We stopped staying with our families to protect young children and elderly relatives. Over 12 cops from the station were living in a rented house," he said.

The officer explained that after the station inspector tested positive, more than 40 personnel got tested at the Ullal health centre. Swab samples were sent on Saturday, and results came back positive on Monday. "We were told we would be taken to a private hospital at Nitte, then ESI hospital, then Wenlock. The ambulance arrived only at 4.30 pm," he added.

All six infected persons are asymptomatic. Five cops are now being treated at Yenepoya hospital. With these new cases, nine police personnel and one home guard from Ullal station have tested positive. Results for many other samples are still pending.

Some blamed the delay on private hospitals running out of beds. But Ashok, inspector and Ullal station in-charge, dismissed that claim. "Any ambulance cannot shift infected persons. There is a deluge of coronavirus cases in the district, so arranging an ambulance took time. The allegations are baseless," he said.

📰 Source: New Indian Express Mangalore