NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Thursday allowed the AAP government to reserve 80 per cent of ICU beds for Covid-19 patients in 33 private hospitals, saying the situation in the national capital is fairly dynamic and the state has to be ‘much more alive’ to the circumstances.
Expressing concern over spiralling cases of Covid-19 in Delhi, the High court questioned the AAP government over ‘doing everything under the Sun to ‘unlock’ things’. A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad allowed Delhi government’s appeal challenging a single judge’s September 22 interim order staying its decision to reserve 80 per cent of the ICU beds in private hospitals.
The high court vacated the stay order and listed the matter for further hearing on November 26 before the single bench and till then the reservation of 80 per cent of ICU beds will continue. The high court was hearing a plea by the Delhi government urging it to empower it to enforce the reservation of ICU beds for COVID- 19 patients in 33 private hospitals at least for 15 days in view of the rise in the number of cases.
Delhi recorded its biggest single-day jump of 8,593 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday that took its infection tally to over 4.59 lakh people, while 85 new fatalities pushed the national capital’s death toll to 7,228. During the hearing, the high court said the state is responsible for the health of citizens for which others also have to chip in, including private hospitals.
It said the situation in Delhi is fairly dynamic and so far as the spread of Covid-19 infection and hospitalisation of patients is concerned, the Delhi government must keep hand on the pulse of the city to be able to cope with the situation.
“There has been sea change in the ground reality when the impugned order of September 22 was passed when the figure of Covid-19 infection in Delhi was hovering around in the range of 3-4,000 patients vis-a-vis today when the said figure is more than double,’ the bench said.