Faced with criticism regarding COVID-19 patients finding it difficult to get beds in hospitals in the capital and reports of mismatch between the information given on Delhi government's app on availability of beds and ventilators and that provided by the hospitals, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday warned private hospitals against 'blackmarketing' of beds and said he will not desist from taking strong action against them if they do not fall in line.
Quoting media reports about some private hospitals first saying that they did not have any beds available and then proceeding to demand money in lakhs to provide a bed, Kejriwal said these hospitals were indulging in blackmarketing of beds. “I saw on TV that patients are being refused beds by some private hospitals. On live TV, when a TV anchor called up a hospital saying a bed was required for a corona patient, the hospital said it did not have any beds available. When the anchor pleaded, the hospital asked for Rs 8 lakh to provide a bed,” he said.
Kejriwal said the 'Delhi Corona' app launched by his government earlier this week was intended to stop this blackmarketing and make information about availability of beds and ventilators transparent. He said that the app has upset some private hospitals and they are now trying to sabotage it by using political influence.
“I am trying to break this mafia. And it is taking time. Some hospitals have become so powerful. They are using their friends in political parties to influence the system,” he said.
He reminded the hospitals that the government had given them land, so that they could serve the people. He warned that if the hospitals did not fall in line, his government would take strong action against them.
Kejriwal said the app has helped people find beds in private hospitals, and since its launch, around 1,100 patients have been admitted in these hospitals.
The Delhi government will depute medical professionals at the private hospitals to ensure that COVID patients get admitted. The government will be issuing an order that no patients suspected of suffering from COVID, but who have not been tested yet, will be refused treatment.
Refuting claims that the testing capacity of Delhi has been hit after his government sent notices to some labs, Kejriwal said of the 42 government and private labs that were testing samples in the capital, 36 are still on the job. He said 5,300 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. He said the capital was conducting the maximum number of tests in the country.
He urged asymptomatic people from not going in for testing, saying this will lead to the system collapsing.
