HYDERABAD: The HC on Wednesday directed the State to submit a report on steps taken to provide health services to people during the lockdown, especially pregnant women, by Friday. A bench, headed by Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Viijaysen Reddy, passed the order in a PIL filed by advocate Sreenitha Pujari.
The advocate stated that despite the Centre’s revised guidelines that mandated essential health services during the lockdown, on April 24, a government hospital in Jogulamba Gadwal had denied admission to a pregnant woman, Jenila, who hailed from Leeja mandal — a red zone. She was later sent to Mahbubnagar district in an ambulance, and due to the non-availability of doctors was forced to go to seven other hospitals.
After 15 hours, she was admitted in Osmania Hospital in Hyderabad, and due to the delay in providing care, both the mother and infant died. The advocate sought dedicated helplines for women seeking non-COVID related healthcare and permission for private vehicles carrying pregnant women to move freely without a pass.