Today the Supreme Court (SC) said that COVID-19 patients are being treated “worse than animals”. According to SC the situation in Delhi is “horrendous, horrific and pathetic”. The situation in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal is “grim”. SC took suo motu cognizance of reports regarding improper handling of Coronavirus patients and disposal of bodies throughout the country.
SC said, “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.”
It asked the Kejriwal government to explain the fall in testing. “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. Coronavirus tests cannot be denied however, “procedure can be simplified so that more and more tests are done” it added.
Delhi ranks third with highest number of Coronavirus cases. According to Union Health Ministry, the national capital has 34,687 cases so far with 1,085 deaths.
The apex court slammed Aam Aadmi Party government for not following the guidelines issued by Union Health Ministry. It 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,” SC added.
“Right to die with dignity is a fundamental right and it includes the right to a decent burial or cremation,” wrote Ashwani Kumar, former law minister to Chief Justice of India SA Bobde. He underlined the way in which patients and bodies were being handled.
