Unable to bear the loss of their only son, his parents, Laxmichandra and Babita Rout, committed suicide on the same day resulting in widespread outrage.
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“Two patients died at Lok Nayak who had dengue but they also had co-morbid conditions”, said Yogesh Kumar Sarin, LNJP Hospital medical superintendent. However, media reports have been raising concerns that hospitals are falling short of these IgM and NS1 kits, and that the number of cases with the government are not accurate.
He appealed to the people to get their tests conducted free of cost in government hospitals.
“We are planning to come out with a law so that hospitals refusing treatment to an emergency patient can be penalised”.
Yahya said a poor drainage situation in the city, exacerbated by large construction projects since the Commonwealth games in 2010, has added to the dengue problem. He instructed the commissioners to take strict action on those, who are responsible for this lapse.
More than 1,800 cases of dengue have been reported in Delhi till September 12 even as the government attempts to contain the outbreak.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the hospitals which turned away the boys had obviously put profitability above humanity and would not be spared.
The city government has also launched a 24-hour helpline for dengue, following a surge in the number of cases of the viral disease.
The Supreme Court of India had issued a judgment a couple of years back saying that no hospital can deny admission to a patient.
A spokesperson for the government, Charan Singh, also told Al Jazeera that 1,872 cases of the disease had been confirmed as of Tuesday, including five deaths. The other two victims on that list, died at AIIMS.
Out of the total cases, north Delhi recorded the highest at 776, south Delhi at 499 while east Delhi posted the lowest with 152 cases.
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“This is the worst outbreak in the last five years and it is going to further increase as the weather remains humid”, Y K Mann, director of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, told AFP. However, the death toll as per the municipal corporation’s official data still stands at 5.
