New Delhi: The Delhi Police Saturday registered a case against the medical superintendent of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for allegedly not using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) app to collect Covid-19 samples.
According to Delhi government officials, not using the app is a violation of the directions issued under the Epidemic Disease Act.
The mobile-based RT-PCR app, launched by the Union health ministry in April, is meant for collection centres to fill data at the point of sample collection to minimise error in reporting real time data to authorities. RT-PCR is the lab technique which has been deployed the world over to test for Covid-19.
The development comes three days after the Delhi government stopped Ganga Ram hospital from conducting tests to detect Covid, alleging it was flouting the Indian Council of Medical Research norms.
According to the police, the matter came to fore after the Delhi chief district medical officer complained to state government officials about the hospital not using the app even until 3 June.
“This is a clear violation of the direction issued under the Epidemic Disease Act. The case was registered after the Delhi Government approached us with the complaint. A case under section 188 of the Epidemic Disease Act was registered against the Medical Superintendent of the hospital and his team was also informed,” said a senior police officer who didn’t wish to be named.
Also read: Covid patients with high blood pressure face ‘double risk’ of death, says Chinese study
No arrests yet
According to the FIR, the Health and Family Welfare Department had issued an order regarding guidelines for tracking and monitoring of every Covid-19 suspected case, which is tested in accredited labs across Delhi.
“In the guidelines, the government had mentioned that it is mandatory for the labs to collect samples only through RT-PCR application. This was not followed by Ganga Ram Hospital,” said the officer quoted above.
No arrests have been made in this regard as yet, the police said.
Earlier today, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned hospitals in the national capital against refusing beds to Covid-19 patients. He also alleged that some hospitals were looking to fleece desperate patients looking for admission. He said his government will not spare any hospital found guilty in this regard.
Also read: AYUSH ministry warns drug-makers to not sell products using false claims, threatens FIRs