Fancy briefs, gadgets: Bengaluru COVID-19 patients' bizarre needs

A box of games and other supplies, demanded by Covid-19 patients at the Covid Ward, Trauma care centre, BMCRI, on June 17, 2020.

Music systems, makeup kits, tongue-cleaning equipment, laptops - These are some of the bizarre requests by COVID-19 patients in Bengaluru.

Doctors at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), of course, are not amused.

“Everyday, we get a new list of items from patients via WhatsApp. Sometimes, we really have to wrack our brains trying to figure out how to source these items,” explained Dr Asima Banu, professor in Microbiology, BMCRI and a nodal officer for COVID-19 care.

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Most of the demands come from asymptomatic patients for whom hospital care is roughly equatable to quarantine. Not only are their numbers large but they are said to have time to kill. As of Wednesday morning, the number of COVID-19 patients at BMCRI numbered 286, of whom 249 were asymptomatic.

Besides the ordinary demands like buckets, mugs and toothbrushes, doctors get requests for items like orange and red sole pajamas, lungis, Spice underwear, electronics goods and nasal-hair-trimming scissors. Demands are also high for Vicks Vaporub, aromatic balm, sandalwood soap and Fair and Lovely.

“I sometimes get the feeling that I took a detour into the hospitality business in my journey as a medical doctor,” said Dr Balaji Pai, Special Officer, in-charge of the Covid-19 ward in the Trauma Care Centre.

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The evidence, he said, is all around. In a nearby training room, now turned into a supply closet, there were boxes full of board games. A stack of buckets and mugs jostled for space with other boxes containing toiletries, electric kettles, socks, towels and assorted clothing. However, neither specially branded underwear nor computer goods could be seen.

“Sometimes, the demands are unfair,” Dr Pai said.

Necessary outlandishness

At the same time, some demands seemed justified, Dr Banu explained. One was from a 20-year-old medical student with Covid-19 from Padarayanapura who sought to send her examination papers by mail to her college.

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“We had to sanitize the papers one-by-one, using an alcoholic spray. The other instance was when a doctor with Covid-19 asked for a whiteboard to conduct classes on Zoom,” Dr Banu said.

She added that the end result of all this work and toil was a lifelong relationship with patients. “This has never happened before in my career,” she added. Staff said that nearly all of the supplies had been procured using a cash pool by medical staff, in addition to help from several organsations such as the Rotary Club.