A five-member committee formed by the Delhi government has suggested in its report that the State’s health infrastructure should be used only for its residents, sources said.
“The report said that if people from outside are allowed to use hospitals, then we will reach 100% bed capacity in three days,” a source in the Delhi government said.
The suggestion comes in the backdrop of Delhi recording over 1,000 novel coronavirus cases daily for the past few days and the AAP government facing heat over allegations of lack of hospital beds and other facilities.
The government had earlier this week formed the committee, headed by Indraprastha University Vice Chancellor Mahesh Verma, to guide it on overall preparedness of hospitals in the city and augmentation of health infrastructure, among others, for better management of COVID-19 cases.
Closed borders
On Monday, announcing the closing of Delhi’s borders for a week, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said, “As soon as we open the borders, people from across the country will come to Delhi for better treatment. We have a capacity of 9,500 beds for COVID-19 treatment in Delhi hospitals… but all the beds will be occupied in just two-three days if we have an influx of patients from across the country.”
The Chief Minister had also asked people to send suggestions on whether borders should be opened or whether borders should be opened but treatment in the hospitals should only be given to the residents of Delhi.
On Friday, the government had said that it has received more than 7.5 lakh suggestions and will decide on whether to open borders to allow inflow of people from other States for medical treatment and other services based on these suggestions and after consulting experts. The government is yet to formally announce a decision.
