50% Covid-19 patients in Delhi hospitals from UP and Haryana: AAP

The party criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments in the two states for the health infrastructure there, and claimed the central government was yet to provide 250 ICU beds in a facility assured on Sunday.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday said around 50% of Covid-19 patients in Delhi hospitals are from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, which shows the state of health care infrastructure in the two states.

After his meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said the central government assured 750 ICU beds for Delhi, of which 250 would be added in the next two days. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The party criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments in the two states for the health infrastructure there, and claimed the central government was yet to provide 250 ICU beds in a facility assured on Sunday.

“More than half of the Covid-19 patients in Delhi hospitals are from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. We are happy to provide them with quality health care but this shows the utter failure of the BJP government in these two states in the field of quality health care. Delhi, on the other hand, has a proper strategy in place,” AAP’s national spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said in a press conference at the party’s head office.

He said, “Despite promising, the Central government is yet to provide 250 ICU beds for the people of Delhi. BJP ministers found time to put up posters promoting their advocacy, but they could not comply with our request to increase ICU beds.”

After his meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said the central government assured 750 ICU beds for Delhi, of which 250 would be added in the next two days. The ICU beds are supposed to be added in the central government’s DRDO facility.

Neeraj Daftuar, principal officer on special duty to the Haryana chief minister, said AAP’s assertion was “preposterous”. He said, “Covid-19 patients from Delhi are regularly getting admitted in Gurugram hospitals like Medanta. What does that indicate? It seems the Delhi government needs to look at their own health infrastructure rather than do nitpicking on us.”

The CM’s aide said 58% of the total active infections in Haryana were confined to four national capital region districts bordering Delhi. They are Gurugram, Faridabad, Rohtak and Sonepat. Out of the four, Gurugram and Faridabad alone accounted for 48% of active infections. “It’s so unfortunate that instead of taking proactive measures and self-introspection, the Delhi government is getting into the blame game,” he said.

The Centre and Uttar Pradesh governments did not respond to requests for comment.