Overstaying Of Covid-19 Patients In Delhi Hospitals: Delhi High Court Seeks Data From All Hospitals By May 4

The court has also directed the government to update daily on its portal, information about the daily discharges and admissions from every hospital in the city.

The bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said that it wanted information on "who all have occupied oxygenated beds, for how long, and when they have been discharged," to get to the bottom of why there has been "choking" of hospital beds.

The court reasoned, "It is well known that one who contracts Covid-19 takes about 14 days to recover. For most people, medication is needed at home quarantine itself. About 10% need hospitalization for oxygen support. About 1% are likely to require greater medical intervention in the ICU."

"The disease itself, in most cases, unless it requires ICU attention, resolves within 10-14 days with prescribed medication. Yet, it seems there is choking of beds," the bench noted.

The bench was informed by Additional Standing Counsel, Adv. Satyakam that as on date there are 20,938 Covid beds in Delhi - including ICU, ICU with ventilator, non-ICU, oxygenated.

It then said that if this were true, "everyday a substantial number of beds should become available."

Responding to the issue, Sr. Adv. Rahul Mehra appearing for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) referred to an office order issued by the Director General of Health Services, GNCTD, and said that, "(The) discharge policy mentioned in the said order, we're told, is being violated. If My Lords call for records, we would have numbers."

Mehra added, "I fear that what's happening is that a patient goes in and is being kept in - though we know that after 10 days, the fear of spreading the infection is not so high. Therefore, one need not wait till Covid-19 negative report for discharge."

Mehra expressed concern that numbers would probably reveal that the turnaround time is almost 25 days for most patients. He further stated that sometimes even a patient who is better "is not ready to leave for fear that he may not get a bed again."

In this backdrop, the court directed "all hospitals of GNCTD and the Central government, and private hospitals and nursing homes, to place before the court by email, the complete particulars of admissions of Covid-19 patients made from Apr 1, 2021 onwards."

The court further directed the amicus to prepare a format in which the said information can be called for. The information is to be supplied by Tuesday, May 4, to the amicus, who shall analyze the same and prepare a report.

While the court wanted the information to also reflect the kind of bed occupied and the date of discharge of the patient, the amicus, Sr. Adv. Rao, said, "Let them only disclose details of patients who have spent more than 10 days. This would reduce the administrative burden, further, it shouldn't be seen as a directive to release patients who need 1-2 days of extra care." He explained that there may be some cases where over staying is necessary, and they shouldn't be adversely affected by such data-seeking.