New Delhi: The Supreme Court in a statement on Friday slammed the Delhi government for treating the coronavirus patients in an inhuman way as it spoke about the “horrendous, horrific and pathetic” situation of increasing cases in the city. The statement came after reports of terrible treatment of patients surfaced with alarming rates of infections.
The top court said that grave situations are also seen Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. It ordered the states and centre to take note of the reports of improper handling of COVID-19 patients and disposal of bodies in the country.
“COVID-19 patients are treated worse than animals. In one case, a body was found in the garbage. Patients are dying and nobody is there to even attend to them,” the Supreme Court said. It also asked the Arvind Kejriwal government to explain the reduction in testing in the city.
“Why has your testing gone down from 7,000 to 5,000 a day when Chennai and Mumbai have increased their testing from 16,000 to 17,000?” the court asked. “Requests for coronavirus tests cannot be denied, procedure can be simplified so that more and more tests are done,” the court added.
Delhi has the third highest number of coronavirus cases in India after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The national capital has recorded over 34,687 patients and 1,085 deaths until now, according to the Union Health Ministry. During press meets conducted earlier, the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has stressed over the government’s thorough preparation to fight the pandemic. After an eruption in the number of cases, Mr Kejriwal said on Thursday, that the cases were likely to rise up to 5.5 lakh by July 31.
While criticizing the Delhi government for not following the guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry leading to the crisis in the city, the Supreme Court said, “The situation in Delhi is horrendous, horrific and pathetic. (There is a) very sorry state of affairs in its hospitals that aren’t giving due care and concern to the bodies. Patients’ families aren’t even informed about deaths. Families haven’t been able to attend the last rites too in some cases.”
“Patients are running from pillar to post to get admitted while large numbers of beds are vacant. According to some reports, a government hospital in Delhi had bodies in lobby and waiting area. Inside the ward, most beds were unoccupied,” it added.
The Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in the hearing that a few of the evidences and situations he saw were “shocking”. The hearing will be continued next week.
On Monday, former law minister Ashwani Kumar had written to Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, highlighting the way covid-19 patients were being handled. “Right to die with dignity is a fundamental right and it includes the right to a decent burial or cremation,” he said in his letter as he mentioned several media reports, including recent incidents in Puducherry and Madhya Pradesh
A video showing a covid-19 deceased’s body being dumped into a garbage truck and taken away while the police officials stood watching, sparked outrage from the entire country.
