Karnataka to allow emergency patients from Kerala to reach Mangaluru hospitals

Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 7

Advertisement

The dispute between Karnataka and Kerala over the former’s refusal to allow patients from Kasaragod to avail medical services in Mangaluru was sorted after Karnataka agreed to allow non-COVID-19 emergency patients.

“The dispute doesn’t exist anymore,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde.

Karnataka has agreed to allow non-COVID-19 emergency patients to avail of medical services in Mangaluru, Mehta said, adding, the matter was sorted out after a meeting held by Union Home Secretary with the chief secretaries of the two states.

But the entry of patients from Kerala into Karnataka is subject to a medical examination at Talapadi check post at the border and only Government ambulances would be allowed.

Also, the patient must have a certificate that he/she is not suffering from COVID-19 and that treatment for the medical problems afflicting him/her is not available in Kasaragod.

Amid the rising number of COVID-19 patients in India, the Supreme Court on Friday asked Karnataka and Kerala to amicably sort out their differences with the help of Centre on sealing of borders.

It had asked the Centre to mediate between the two states to reach an amicable solution to the problem.

Kerala wanted patients from its Kasaragod district to be allowed to access emergency medical services in Mangaluru in Karnataka, which has sealed its border in view of the 21-day nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Bench had asked the Union Health Secretary to call a meeting of chief secretaries of Kerala and Karnataka to find a mutually acceptable solution to the issue.

Karnataka had moved the top court challenging a Kerala High Court order asking it to lift the blockade on Kerala-Karnataka border amid the Coronavirus lockdown.

In its petition, Karnataka submitted that the sealing of the state borders with the neighbouring states was in the interest of public health, especially when there was a grave concern about the spread of COVID-19 from the bordering districts of Kerala where the situation was really dire.

“The entire country is going through a lockdown and it is of grave importance that the affected districts of COVID be sealed and the pandemic be stopped from spreading to newer areas. It is submitted that the Impugned Order would lead to grave consequences for the people of the adjoining districts in the State of Karnataka,” it had contended.