Noida/Ghaziabad: Since Noida is an NCR city, no hospital can deny treatment to patients from other districts, chief minister Yogi Adityanath told officials on Sunday. He also clarified that healthcare facilities should not ask for any residential proof like Aadhaar card while admitting patients.

When cases had been rising by leaps and bounds in April, hospitals in Noida admitted only those patients who had local addresses on their Aadhaar cards. This is something other NCR cities like Gurgaon also followed. As a result, many patients from other districts lost their lives waiting for treatment to be initiated. Not just admissions, even the Covid control room addressed complaints of patients only if they had a local Aadhaar card. The UP government has, however, done away with a rule that made a state Aadhaar card mandatory for vaccination in the 18-44 category.

The chief minister, who visited Noida, Ghaziabad and Meerut to assess the Covid situation in the three districts, also announced that three and nine oxygen plants would be set up in Noida and Ghaziabad, respectively. Across the state, his government would set up 300 such plants, the CM said. Adityanath also announced that each district in the state would have a Covid care centre or hospital for women and children. The hospitals, he said, would be equipped with ICU facilities.

The chief minister said the state government had been conducting 2.5-3 lakh tests every day. “On March 2 last year, we did not have much capacity for Covid tests. Neither did we have many isolation beds for treatment of Covid patients. With support from the Centre and help from various organisations, we are conducting 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh tests every day,” Adityanath said in Noida.

Adityanath also said the government would take regular updates from local monitoring committees on the situation in rural areas. “With focus on 97,000 villages across the state, the nigrani samiti are taking all necessary steps. They have also been given medicine kits,” he added.

Villages across Noida and Ghaziabad have reported deaths of several people with Covid-like symptoms. The residents have also alleged lack of testing and proper treatment, which has forced many to rely on quacks. It was only after a flurry of media reports that the Noida administration began testing drives in several villages, officials have admitted in private.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister also inspected the Police Lines Hospital. He also went to Bhowapur village in Ghaziabad and Chaprauli village in Noida, and interacted with residents. He also visited a Covid care centre set up by FONRWA. Officials in Noida said the administration was also preparing to conduct a survey to find out children whose parents are in hospital due to Covid or have succumbed to the infection. “We have been receiving several calls from families where both parents are battling Covid. But these children are mostly with their relatives. In such cases, we have helped them with food and medicine, and are keeping track of the children,” said Atul Soni, district programme officer.

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