Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered on Thursday that the number of committed Covid Facilities in Lucknow be increased and that King George’s Medical University (KGMU) and Balrampur Hospital be designated as specified Covid Hospitals.

Additional beds should be available in these hospitals within the next two days, according to a statement issued by the state government. In Lucknow, the TS Mishra Hospital, Integral, and Hind Medical Colleges, as well as the TS Mishra Hospital, need to be enlarged as dedicated Covid Hospitals, according to the study.

The decision was accompanied by the assurance that neither necessary drugs nor beds for Covid and non-Covid patients will be in short supply in each of the state’s districts. The argument, however, is in sharp contrast to the scenes that can be seen in hospitals across the state, especially in Lucknow. The Indian Express has seen Covid patients and their attendants rushing from pillar to post in search of beds for the past three days.

Several hospital employees at King George’s Medical University, officially the state’s largest Covid care center, said that there was a shortage of beds, forcing most patients to wait days for one.

On the condition of anonymity, a KGMU official at the university’s Trauma Centre’s registration counter said, “In the absence of an adequate number of beds, officials have been given strict guidance that anyone tests positive for coronavirus should be held in home isolation, or be transferred to some other medical facility.” He reported that over 50 people had been waiting in line for a hospital bed for the last few days.

In Lucknow, a similar condition can be seen at the Civil Hospital and the RML Hospital.

Earlier, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered that a case be filed under the Pandemic Act against those who refuse to admit Covid patients referred by district magistrates and chief medical officers. Many of the state’s commissioners, DMs, and CMOs have received directives from the Medical Education Department in this respect.

When asked about the new directives, KGMU officials announced that they would be in place from Monday until further notice. “All non-Covid emergencies, with the exception of cardiology and obstetrics, will be transferred to other government hospitals in Lucknow, following the government order declaring KGMU a Covid facility. In a tweet, KGMU spokesperson Sudhir Singh said, “This directive will be effective from Monday until further orders.”

Earlier in the day, the CM told the citizens of the state that the state had been successful in battling the first wave of Covid-19 and that the second wave would be handled soon as well. Out of the 1,29,848 open cases in the province, 66,528 patients, or more than 51%, are being treated at home, while 2,012 are being treated in private hospitals.