Neighbouring states refuse to take non-Covid patients: UT Adviser

Chandigarh Adviser Manoj Parida said neighboring states like Himachal Pradesh have refused to take their people who had undergone non-Covid treatment at the PGI here, citing nationwide lockdown.

He said this would impact the treatment of coronavirus patients in the hospitals here.

"Outstation patients coming from other states discharged by hospitals like PGI have no local place to go, nor transport to return home. Any solutions," Parida informed in a tweet on Sunday.

"Neighboring states like Himachal have refused to take them now saying Central government has banned interstate movement.

"Our hospital beds remaining blocked as discharged non-Covid patients not leaving," the Adviser added.

Himachal Pradesh Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Onkar Sharma told IANS over phone on Monday that the patients who have undergone treatment outside the state could come back to the state as per the medical protocol.

"All the patients with their hospital discharge slips can enter the state. At the inter-state border, they will be medically examined. If they require 14 days of quarantine, they will be quarantined there," he said.

The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh caters to patients from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh. IANS