Acting upon a request from the Delhi High Court, the Kejriwal government has ordered a five-star hotel to reserve their 100 rooms for a Covid Health Centre and reserve exclusively for the judges, judicial officers and the family members, an order accessed by The Statesman read.

The responsibility to set up and run the 5-star ward at Asoka Hotel is given to Primus Hospital which will provide the resources and manpower for the facility.

The controversial order has come amid a clamour for hospital beds and oxygen facility among the general public. The scarcity is such that patients are dying waiting for admission outside hospitals, in ambulances and at their homes.

“The order is issued from the office of the sub-divisional magistrate, Chanakyapuri. “I, Geeta Grover, Incident Commander/SDM, Sub-division Chanakyapuri in exercise of power conferred under Act/Regulations mentioned above and in the overall imminent public interest, do hereby require the use of Hon’ble justices and judicial officers of Delhi High Court and their families and place at the disposal of Primus Hospital, Chanakyapuri, with immediate effect,” the order read.

The order also stated that the Primus Hospital will provide the ambulance, doctors, nurses and paramedical staff while the hotel is directed to provide services for housekeeping, rooms, disinfection,  and food for the patients.

The hotel is also asked to collect the biomedical waste that will be generated from the ward.

However, any shortage in the hotel staff will be replenished by the hospital, the order said.

Meanwhile, besides the number of directions, the government has also warned that non-compliance with the order will attract penal action under relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

Amid the surging cases in the virulent second wave of the pandemic, the availability of beds has been a major obstacle for those seeking treatment.

Several patients who spoke to The Statesman said that while getting into an ICU at the moment is next to impossible, even finding oxygen at home is proving a challenge. Those who somehow managed to get their hands on a cylinder struggled to find a flow meter that makes the cylinders functional.

As many as 5 patients, among one as young as 25-year-old, died within a couple of hours outside Sir Ganga Ram Hospital anticipating hospitalization.

A 35-year-old woman died midway to the Delhi government-run GTB Hospital as the oxygen cylinder of the ambulance carrying her ran out of gas.