Claiming that there is a "policy paralysis" in Gujarat, an Ahmedabad private hospital doctor on May 28 said that delays in receiving permission for coronavirus tests are hampering the treatment of non-COVID patients.

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"In Gujarat, and particularly in Ahmedabad, all the doctors practicing in private hospitals get lots of patients every day, with some patients having signs of COVID-19. But the state government has no policy to test the patient, who we feel might have coronavirus infection," Dr Vasant Patel, CEO of Dhwani Hospital in Ahmedabad, told ANI. He said that as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) COVID-19 test is compulsory before any surgery but added that the Gujarat government has mandated taking permission for coronavirus tests in the State.

"The Government of Gujarat and the officers sitting in the government are taking these COVID tests lightly. Why they are doing fewer tests in Gujarat is still not understood by the people and doctors of the state," said Dr Patel, who is also Executive Committee Member of the Ahmedabad Nursing Home Association. "There is one email ID given to all doctors for getting permission for COVID tests. This is absolutely rubbish. Once the ICMR has already issued guidelines to test before delivery and surgery, then why is the government asking us to take permission," he added.

Dr Patel said that the Ahmedabad Medical Association had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) regarding the fewer number of coronavirus tests in the state and added that the Ahmedabad Nursing Home Association has also joined the PIL. "Tomorrow it will be heard in the High Court," he said. "Yesterday, I had applied for COVID test of a delivery patient. It has been almost 24 hours and I am still to get permission. The same issue is being faced by all the doctors in Ahmedabad. Patients are in bad shape due to this. There is some game of figures by the bureaucrats. This is policy paralysis in the Gujarat government," Dr Patel said. So far, Gujarat has reported a total number of 15,195 positive coronavirus cases in the state, of which 7,549 have been cured/discharged while 938 others have lost their lives.