A petition moved by an 80-year-old COVID-19 patient in Delhi, praying for a bed in some government hospital with a ventilator facility, has been listed for hearing in the Delhi High Court on Friday. Ironically, before the court could pass any order, the patient succumbed to his illness on Thursday. In his plea, the patient alleged that he fell ill on May 25 and was taken to a private hospital. There he was kept adjacent to a coronavirus patient and caught infection allegedly due to the negligence of the said hospital. He was then put on the ventilator. The plea adds that after this, the hospital started pressurizing the family to shift the patient to some other hospital as they lacked facilities to treat COVID-19 patients. The patient then approached Rajiv Gandhi Hospital, AIIMS, MAX Hospital at Patparganj, Gangaram Hospital and Apollo Hospital but all these hospitals denied admission to the patient for want of vacant beds, the plea said. The patient also said that he was from the BPL category, adding that the private hospital had been charging exorbitantly. The petitioner had requested for free medical treatment under the BPL category. The petition was moved on June 2. Though listed for hearing today, it is ought to stand infructuous in the event of the death of the patient, said Advocate RPS Bhatti, who is an advocate for the petitioner. The irony is that the patient died even before he could be heard for justice.

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