Priyanka Gandhi urges UP CM to ensure Covid patients seeking hospital admission are not harassed

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Monday wished Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath a speedy recovery from Covid-19 in a letter, while urging him to ensure easy admission of Covid-19 patients to hospitals in the state.

Yogi Adityanath tested positive for Coronavirus on April 14. He has quarantined himself since then.

Addressing the UP CM, Priyanka’s letter raised the issue of shortage of oxygen cylinders in the state. She also emphatically asked the UP CM to do away with the mandatory CMO’s certificate for Covid patients to gain admission in hospitals in the state.

“Information is coming from many places that many serious patients are not being admitted without the letter of the CMO. This system has become a means of harassment for patients already facing trouble. Due to this, people are forced to wait for long hours. Many have lost their lives while waiting,” Priyanka Gandhi said in her letter.

“You can understand that patients and their relatives are already troubled. This kind of red-tapism is only increasing their problems. Please consider each life important and make admission in hospital easy for Covid patients,” she added.

In her letter, Priyanka also highlighted the issue of shortage of oxygen cylinders in the state. Mentioning an incident in Lucknow where angry people waiting for oxygen cylinders attacked healthcare officials, Priyanka asked, “How will those who have quarantined themselves in their home get oxygen cylinders when the need arises?”

She said rules made by the Yogi government are proving dangerous for the people of the state.

Uttar Pradesh registered the highest single-day rise in COVID-19 cases as well as fatality count, with the disease claiming 129 more lives, while 30,596 fresh cases pushed its tally to 8,51,620 as on Sunday.