Deputy CM calls for inquiry into 23 missing Covid patients

23 Covid patients admitted to Hindu Rao hospital left between April 19 and May 6 without informing authorities.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Sunday called for an urgent inquiry into 23 Covid-19 patients going missing from the North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Hindu Rao Hospital.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. (ANI)

Taking cognizance of a report published in Hindustan Times on Sunday, Sisodia said in a letter, “It is very shocking that to note that such a large number (of) Covid-19 patients have gone missing from Hindu Rao Hospital in spite of separate wards... It is not only dangerous to the lives of these patients but also a setback to the efforts of the government, which has imposed curfew/lockdown to break the chain and to check the spread of this dreaded disease.”

Directing health department to submit the findings by Monday evening, Sisodia said, “Responsibility [should] be fixed and action be taken against the erring officials.”

HT reported on Sunday that between April 19 and May 6 this year, 23 Covid-19 patients admitted to HIndu Rao hospital left without informing the hospital authorities. The hospital currently does not know whether these patients have transferred into other Covid hospitals or have left for their homes.

While the civic body officials said that they informed police about instances of patients leaving against medical advice (LAMA), Delhi Police officials on Saturday denied having received any complaint from either the hospital or the municipality.

This is not the first time that the Hindu Rao Hospital has reported such cases. Last year, between June 27 and July 18, five Covid positive patients left the hospital without informing the authorities.

Jai Prakash, mayor of the BJP-ruled civic body, said the corporation will do everything to give the details of the 23 missing patients. However, he said that the security of the Covid-19 hospitals in Delhi is managed by the Delhi’ government’s civil defence and the deputy CM should seek answers about the lapse in security from their own officials. “Why doesn’t the government first call an inquiry on the hoarding of oxygen cylinders and other equipment by their own ministers and MLAs, or regarding the shortage of oxygen supply in the city that led to the death of so many people in Delhi?” Prakash said.

BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the Delhi government should question their own officials as the security of the Hindu Rao hospital and other Covid-dedicated hospitals is managed by the government’s civil defence.

“Security to all Covid hospitals is being provided by Delhi government’s civil defence and it is civil defence that owes a reply for missing patients from a hospital of north corporation,” Kapoor said.