Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday asked the Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government how many beds it had arranged for future generations, citing an incident where a pregnant woman died in an ambulance in Greater Noida on Friday, after allegedly being denied admission by several hospitals, PTI reported.

“The death of a pregnant woman while searching for a hospital is extremely sad,” Yadav said. “The [Uttar Pradesh] government should tell us that if it has arranged one lakh beds for corona [virus patients], they why has it not reserved beds for the future generation?”

On May 21, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath had directed officials in the state to increase the number of beds for coronavirus patients to one lakh. The state has recorded 9,733 Covid-19 cases and 257 deaths so far, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Yadav said that the Bharatiya Janata Party should also announce the number of hospitals it has built till now.

On Friday, 30-year-old Neelam died after at least eight hospitals, including government hospitals, denied her admission. She was a resident of Khoda colony on the Noida-Ghaziabad border. Her husband, Vijender Singh said that Neelam, who was eight months pregnant, was undergoing treatment at Shivalik Hospital, a private facility, for complications related to her pregnancy. But the hospital refused to admit her on Friday and they had to look for another facility.

“We first went to the ESI hospital,” Singh told the news agency. “Thereafter, we went to a hospital in Sector 30 (the Child PGI), from there we went to the Sharda Hospital and then to the Government Institute of Medical Sciences in Greater Noida. But all refused to admit her.”

He also said that they tried getting admission in private facilities such as Jaypee, Fortis Hospital in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Max in Vaishali, Ghaziabad. However, they were told that there were no beds available.

“Ultimately, she died in the ambulance,” Singh said. “Finally, we got to the GIMS [Government Institute of Medical Sciences] where she was put on a ventilator but it was too late.”

Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Suhas LY ordered a probe into the incident.

There have been several reports of shortage of beds across hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic. On May 25, an infant died in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar after failing to receive timely medical treatment. His father went from one hospital to another between Greater Noida and Noida before the infant died.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that all state-run hospitals and some private hospitals will be reserved for residents of the Capital. However, all central hospitals in the Capital and private facilities that perform specialised surgeries will continue to cater to patients from all parts of the country.

Kejriwal also announced the reopening of Delhi’s borders for inter-state movement from Monday. Last week, the chief minister had sealed Delhi’s borders considering the rise in coronavirus cases in the city. He had restricted the inter-state movement of non-Delhi residents while permitting only the operation of essential services. The Aam Aadmi Party leader had expressed apprehension that city hospitals may get swamped by people from other states in the absence of these restrictions.

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