Delhi Govt seeks SC nod for 80 percent COVID bed reservation in private facilities

The state government approached the apex court after the high court on September 22nd stayed the Delhi government's September 13th decision stating that allowing the government to reserve seats in 33 big private facilities would clearly violate the fundamental rights of the other patients who have several different health conditions and are currently under treatment in the hospitals.

The appeal made by advocate Shroff stated that "Delhi is known for its good quality healthcare facilities and particularly acts as a magnet for people residing in neighboring states, who wish to avail these facilities. Covid patients from outside Delhi are regularly coming and are availing of the health facilities available in Delhi."

It also added that "If a Covid-19 patient is referred to Delhi and does not get an ICU bed, it will be against his fundamental right to equality and access to proper healthcare and, therefore, reserving ICU beds for Covid patients was a befitting decision."

Taking cognizance of the plight of COVID-19 patients in securing beds for treatment, the government argued that under the current alarming circumstances, it is extremely important that ICU beds are reserved for patients for the emergency purpose.

It submitted that the numbers of COVID cases are increasing rapidly and the number of cases recorded on November 3rd was 6842 which is the highest so far.