UP: Hospital in Firozabad sealed for treating patients on pavement outside

A private hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad has been sealed after visuals of over 30 fever patients, lying on pavement with intravenous drip bottles tacked to the sidewall of a flyover of a busy national highway, went viral on social media.

The hospital was sealed on Tuesday after health officials faced the ire of families of patients being treated in the open.

Later, the patients were taken to government health centres.

According to sources, when the rooms of the private hospital were fully occupied, arrangements were made for treatment at the footpath on service lane of National Highway-2, which passes in front of the nursing home.

Contacted for comment, Chief Medical Officer of Firozabad district, Dr Dinesh Kumar Premi, said: "The nursing home has been sealed and a committee headed by an Additional Chief Medical Officer is investigating the entire matter. All the patients have been transferred to government centres. On the basis of the probe report, suitable action will be taken against the concerned doctors."

He further said, "There are 64 active camps in the district and 5,000 people, including those who have fever, are undergoing treatment there."

With the number of dengue patients crossing the 4,800 mark since August, all government hospitals have run out of beds.

With four more deaths in the past 24 hours, the toll in Firozabad district -- which has become the hub of dengue outbreak, touched 265 on Tuesday. Of these, 228 were children.

However, the Chief Medical Officer claimed that there were only 63 deaths due to dengue-like symptoms.