The capital recorded 1,320 coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the total to 27,654.
With complaints coming in of suspected Covid-19 patients being denied treatment at hospitals, the Delhi government has issued directives to medical facilities to not turn such patients away. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said a medical professional from the Delhi government will be placed in each private hospital. “The false refusal will have to stop. The hospitals cannot deny treatment to even a suspected Covid-19 patient,” he said.
An order issued by Delhi Health Secretary Padmini Singla stated, “No patient who has Covid symptoms and is in the moderate and severe category can be denied admission on the pretext that the patient does not have a Covid positive report. All such patients must be kept in the Covid suspected patient area till the test report is received. Accordingly, if found positive, then he/she shall be kept in the Covid hospital, otherwise transferred to a non-Covid hospital for further management.”
हम आज एक महत्त्वपूर्ण ऑर्डर पास कर रहे हैं – कोई भी अस्पताल suspect cases को मना नहीं कर सकता। Suspect मरीजों को पॉजिटिव मान कर अस्पताल तुरंत उनका इलाज शुरू करेंगे। pic.twitter.com/jAO875cnK3
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 6, 2020
The guidelines are an extension of the SOPs issued on Friday by the health department to hospitals for proper treatment and management of Covid positive and suspected patients. The new SOPs have put the responsibility of a patient on the hospital if the services are not available. The hospital will be responsible for transferring the patient to other hospitals, and until that happens, the hospital would provide available medical facilities.
The government has also directed that mild or asymptomatic patients be discharged from the hospital within 24 hours of admission. The concerned district medical officer is to be informed about the same. The decision was taken after several hospitals claimed that the beds were occupied by such patients.
The city saw 1,320 new Covid cases in 24 hours, taking the total to 27,654. Of these, 16,229 cases are active, while 10,664 have recovered/been discharged. So far, 761 people have succumbed to the disease — 53 of these deaths were updated on Saturday.