The North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Saturday shifted 20 COVID-19 patients from its Hindu Rao Hospital to two Delhi government hospitals, said officials.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said that officials had been directed to shift 20 COVID-19 patients admitted at Hindu Rao Hospital to any Delhi government hospital, as doctors and staff of the municipal-run hospital have given a notice for a strike because their salaries have not being paid for many months.
DDMA directives
Meanwhile, the North Corporation spokesperson said that the shifting was done on directions of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which is headed by L-G Anil Baijal, who is appointed by the Central government. The North Corporation is ruled by the BJP.
“The North Corporation shifted 20 patients to Delhi Govt hospitals — 17 to Lok Nayak Hospital and three to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital. Three COVID patients are in the ICU and we have not shifted them as they are critical,” the north body spokesperson said.
“We were informed by the DDMA over the phone that there are few patients in our hospital and to shift them to Delhi government hospitals, so that Hindu Rao Hospital can provide other services,” the spokesperson said.
The Delhi government PRO did not respond to queries on whether the government had issued an order to shift the patients to Delhi government hospitals.
Earlier in the day, the Health Minister had said, “Hindu Rao Hospital is run by municipal corporation and doctors and staff have given notice for a strike. We have directed to shift COVID patients in the hospital to Delhi government hospital.”
He added that the corporation is not paying salaries of employees, despite having funds. “The BJP is doing politics, we have told them now that if you cannot run the hospital, then give the hospital to us. There is no deficiency of funds [in corporations]. They collect a lot of money in taxes, but there is no account of where it goes,” the Minister said during the press conference.
2,866 fresh cases
Meanwhile, the city reported 2,866 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 3,06,559, according to a health bulletin released on Saturday.
The death toll has reached 5,740 following 48 more fatalities in the past 24 hours.
Of the total cases, 2,78,812, people have recovered and there are now 22,007 active cases.
The positivity rate on Saturday stood at 5.76% while the recovery rate crossed 90% and case fatality rate stood at 1.87%.
The number of containment zones has dropped to 2,715, from 2,727 on Friday.
