Delhi Health Min backs decision on reserving beds; alleges under-reporting by UP & Haryana

Backing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's decision, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday said that if people from neighbouring states come and get tested for COVID-19 in Delhi then there will be a problem for the national capital. He further alleged that Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are under-reporting COVID-19 cases as they are not conducting tests.

"If people from neighbouring states come and get tested in Delhi then there will be problems here," Jain said while speaking to media persons at a press conference.

"Haryana and Uttar Pradesh do not conduct tests. Haryana says that there are 1,000 active cases there. Uttar Pradesh, being such a large state, says there are only 2,000-3,000 active cases there. The truth is that there are many who have been infected by COVID-19 in those states," he added.

The Delhi Health Minister further said that orders have been issued to increase the number of beds in the city by 2,000 in the next 2-3 days and it is expected that the hospitals would need 15,000 beds by the end of June.

The Minister's comments came in the backdrop of Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's directions to authorities in the city to ensure that treatment is not denied to any patient on grounds "of being a non-resident of the national capital". The order by the LG, which also directed all government and private hospitals and nursing homes to cater to the needs of the patients, came a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that hospitals in Delhi, except those run by the Centre, will only be available for residents of the national capital in the view of rising COVID-19 cases.

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Kejriwal denies treatment for outsiders in Delhi hospitals

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made it clear in a televised address earlier that the private and Delhi government-affiliated hospitals will be reserved only for the residents of Delhi, while the Central government hospitals will remain open for the people who come from other states to Delhi for treatment.

This comes as the number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi doesn't seem to get under control. The national capital continues to witness an alarming rise in the number of COVID-19 cases with over a thousand fresh infections being reported daily. 1,320 fresh coronavirus cases were reported on Saturday while on Sunday 1,282 fresh infections were reported, taking the COVID-19 tally in the city to 28,936 while the death toll climbed to 812, according to PTI.

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(with inputs from ANI)