UP hospital bans admission of Muslim patients without coronavirus negative test report

The hospital put out an advertisement explaining in detail about the reasons behind the act

Members of Muslim community who had visited several Muslim missionary gatherings including ‘Jamat’ at Nizamuddin Mosque in New Delhi, wear masks as they are being taken to a quarantine facility during a nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus. (PTI Photo)

Close on the heels of reports of segregation of Hindu-Muslim Coronavirus positive patients by a Gujarat hospital, which the authorities denied, a private hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut town, about 500 kilometres from here, banned the admission of Muslim patients unless they furnished COVID-19 negative test reports for them and their attendants.

According to the sources, the health department and the police were investigating the matter.

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The hospital, which is specialised in treatment of cancer, has put out an advertisement in a leading Hindi daily explaining in detail about the reasons that prompted it to do so.

The reasons cited by the hospital included the alleged misbehaviour of the members of the 'Tableegh-e-Jamaat' (TJ), who, the ad said, had contributed to the spread of coronavirus infection in the country.

''Some members of TJ have also attacked and misbehaved with the doctors, paramedical staff and nurses during their treatment...such incidents have been rising,'' it said.

''In our hospital also, some Muslim patients have not been following the rules and misbehaving with the staff...therefore we request the new Muslim patients wanting to get treatment and admission in the hospital must bring COVID 19 negative test report for themselves and their attendants,'' the ad went on to state.

It clarified that the new rules would not apply to Muslim doctors, judges, police personnel, officers, paramedical staff if they did not live in the ''densely populated Muslim localities''.

The ad rued that the affluent Hindu/Jain families were 'misers' and did not contribute generously to the 'PM Cares Fund'.

As the ad triggered a backlash, especially among the Hindu'Jain communities, the hospital came out with another advertisement aplogising to them for terming them 'misers'.

Though the hospital in its clarification said that it did not intend to hurt the feelings of any community, including the Muslim, it did not state if the new rules with regard to admission of Muslim patients had been withdrawn.

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