Apollo doctors, nurses attacked

New Delhi: Family members of a Covid-19 patient attacked doctors, nurses and other staff at the Apollo hospital in Delhi's Sarita Vihar on Tuesday. The family members were enraged after the patient died of Covid-19 without getting an ICU bed.

The patient, a 62-year-old woman, was brought to the hospital early Tuesday morning. She waited in the emergency area to get an ICU bed but could not get any bed, as none was available.

On Tuesday morning, she died.

Angered over this, her family members attacked nurses and doctors at the hospital around 9 am.

In a video of the incident, the family members can be seen charging at doctors with sticks outside the hospital. Some damage to property has also been reported. DCP South East Delhi said the police have not received any complaint in this regard from either the hospital or the patient's family, according to India Today report.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Apollo hospital said they had received a woman in a "critical condition" at the Emergency in the early hours of Tuesday.

"Immediate medical attention appropriate to her condition was given by the team. Given the paucity of beds, the family was advised to shift the patient to another facility with available beds. Unfortunately, the patient died around 8 am, post which the patient's family members resorted to vandalism, destruction of hospital property and assault on our doctors and staff," the statement said.

It added that the situation was brought under control through hospital security staff and use of police force.

"While the hospital deeply condoles the death of the patient, it is deeply shocked at the behaviour of the patient's family against doctors and healthcare workers who are providing untiring services amidst the pandemic," the hospital said. The incident comes days after the Delhi High Court ordered police protection to hospitals "on request" amid a spike in Covid-19 deaths.