ADMK's Coordinator and former Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu O Panneerselvam has on Tuesday put out his latest demand to Chief Minister MK Stalin to treat the non-Covid patients at the government hospitals. Panneerselvam had warned that if such a situation prevails in the state, there would be a surge in the deaths of non-Covid patients. 

He urged the state government to treat non-Covid patients with utmost care since there were reports of beds being used only for the Covid cases and non-Covid patients are not being admitted to the government hospitals. The former Deputy Chief Minister has noted that poor people affected by other ailments are facing huge difficulties in getting treatment in government hospitals. 

He said that there are multiple reports of non-Covid patients waiting for a long time to receive treatment and surgeries at the government hospitals as the sequel of lack of beds and the government has allotted more beds to the Covid-19 hit patients across the state after there has been a surge in Covid-19 cases in the last few months. 

Panneerselvam has highlighted that similar situations are prevailing in the big-government hospitals including Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Stanley Medical College and Hospital. By citing that despite the allotment of separate wards for non-Covid patients, Panneerselvam said that people who had suffered injuries in road accidents and pregnant women were given treatment. 

He further stated that people with other problems like heart and kidney diseases and those who are under the requirement of dialysis were not admitted as inpatients. In his statement, he further added that there are also reports of health officials informing the patients that it would require some time to attend them and said that there are thousands of people in the queue to avail treatment. By citing that poor people are affected, Panneerselvam has urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to ensure that the non-Covid patients can avail timely treatment at the government hospitals.