Kejriwal government to challenge HC order staying reservation of 80 per cent ICU beds for COVID patients

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Tuesday said it will challenge the high court's order staying reservation of 80 per cent ICU beds for COVID-19 patients in 33 private hospitals.

A Delhi government functionary said it is extremely important to reserve ICU beds in private hospitals to deal with the rising coronavirus cases in the national capital.

He said the AAP dispensation will challenge the high court order on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court stayed the AAP government's decision to reserve 80 per cent ICU beds for coronavirus patients in 33 private hospitals.

The bench of Justice Navin Chawla said prima facie the Delhi government's September 13 order is "arbitrary, unreasonable and violative of fundamental rights of citizens" guaranteed under the Constitution.

The court issued notices and sought responses of the Delhi government and the Centre on a plea by 'Association of Healthcare Providers' to quash the order to reserve 80 per cent ICU beds for COVID-19 patients.

The Delhi government, however, defended its decision in the court, saying it is only for 33 hospitals and 20 per cent ICU beds remain for the non-COVID-19 serious patients and it has been done keeping in view the sudden spike in cases of the virus.