Covid-19: Dissatisfied with hospital, 6 suspected patients return home in Delhi

“On reaching the isolation ward, they were irked by the inadequate facilities and left the hospital,” said a senior doctor from the hospital.

Dr Kishore Singh, medical director of the hospital, said, “They all were low-risk patients and left the hospital on Thursday night. As per the protocol, we cannot force any patient to stay.”

In such cases, officials at the Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme (IDSP) may take action against the hospital. “If any such patient who needs to be quarantined leaves the hospital premises, then the state health department can file a complaint if the need arises,” said an official from IDSP.

Police also said they have received information about the patients leaving the hospital at night.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sanjay Bhatia said, “We received a call around 1.30 am from Lok Nayak that six people, suspected of having contracted COVID-19, have left the hospital. We asked whether the patients had fled the facility but the hospital denied it. Hence, we haven’t taken any action against the patients. The hospital has also not filed a complaint against them.”

Police said they contacted the patients, who said that they were not “satisfied with the services” at Lok Nayak and decided to leave the hospital and go home.