Even as Covid-infected Bengalureans struggle for ICU and oxygen beds, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Friday stirred a controversy by ordering to reserve 15% beds at premier hospitals of Bengaluru for Covid patients from Chikkaballapur district.
Anticipating a surge in the number of fresh Covid cases in his home district in the coming days, Dr Sudhakar on Friday ordered that 15% beds at Columbia Asia, Hebbal, Aster CMI Hospital, Sahakar Nagar, Baptist Hospital, Hebbal to Covid patients referred by the Chikkaballapur district administration.
However, his orders soon snowballed into a political controversy with the general public and Opposition leaders criticising the move. The Health Minister, after tweeting the order, drew flak from the public on several social media platforms.
A Twitter user Prathap Shetty commented, “You have been made the health minister for the whole of Karnataka and not just to Chikkaballapur. If you are so concerned about your district, why don’t you address the medical infrastructural problems and upgrade the hospitals?”
Yet another user and a BJP supporter Prajwal Gowda said, “People in other districts are also humans and why only special preference to the people of Chikkaballapura. Already we are unable to face the wrath of the public and with this it is even more embarrassing.”
As per the health bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department on Friday, Chikkaballapur reported 579 fresh cases of Covid-19 along with two deaths. A day before, the district had reported 683 Covid cases with one death.
(Published 01 May 2021, 00:55 IST)
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