New Delhi: When the lockdown for COVID-19 began in late March this year, the idea was that the forced social distancing would delay the spread of the coronavirus and provide enough time for the health authorities to prepare better for tackling the situation.However, the concerns raised by the Supreme Court in its observations on June 12 show that in Delhi while some facilities have been augmented, the situation remains worrying with people being denied testing and admissions. While government data has it that over 5,000 hospital beds are lying vacant, people have reportedly struggled to get admission to hospitals.The Supreme Court also asked the Delhi government to explain within a week the phenomenon of the decline in its testing numbers. “Why has your testing gone down from 7,000 to 5,000 a day when Chennai and Mumbai have increased their testing from 16,000 to 17,000?” it asked. The data was of April and May.The court said requests for COVID-19 tests cannot be denied. It suggested that the procedure be simplified “so that more and more tests are done”.Handling, disposal of bodies also called into questionIn the backdrop of several patients sending videos from inside hospitals showing the poor condition of care and maintenance, and media reports on bodies being mistreated, the apex court noted that “COVID-19 patients are treated worse than animals.”Pointing out how “in one case, a body was found in the garbage,” it observed that “patients are dying and nobody is there to even attend to them.”Also read: As COVID-19 Cases Spiked, What Ailed Delhi’s Health Delivery System?The court also noted that “(there is a) very sorry state of affairs in its hospitals that aren’t giving due care and concern to the bodies. Patients’ families aren’t even informed about deaths. Families haven’t been able to attend the last rites too in some cases.”Mismatch in official death count and last rites with COVID protocolIncidentally, there is also a major mismatch between the count given by the Delhi government and the data on cremations and burials taking place as per the COVID-19 protocol.The three municipal corporations of Delhi, which maintain the record on cremations and burials at the six designated sites for COVID-related death cases, had in a joint-press conference on Thursday, claimed that last rites on 2,098 bodies had been performed as per the protocol till June 11. Chairman of Standing Committee of North Delhi Municipal Corporation Jai Prakash had while giving the break-up, said, “The number of deaths from COVID-19 in Delhi stands at 2,098 – SDMC (1080), NDMC (976), EDMC (42).”By that day the official count of COVID-19 deaths as per the Delhi government was 984.‘Release details’While the municipal leaders who belong to the BJP accused the AAP government of suppressing real figures, senior AAP leader Atishi said such accusations have been levelled in the past as well but even the Delhi high court had lauded the way the Delhi government was disclosing COVID deaths. She said there was a Death Audit Committee in place which vetted the details before providing the official death count.Meanwhile, Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain today termed these claims as unsubstantiated and questioned why BJP-ruled MCDs were not releasing the details of the COVID-19 patients they are claiming have been buried or cremated as per the protocol. He also ruled out the possibility of another lockdown in the national capital.Also read: Data From Cremation, Burial Grounds Contradicts Delhi’s Official COVID-19 Death Toll: ReportThe total number of cases in Delhi today rose to 34,687, with 1,877 cases being reported during the past 24 hours, while the death count rose to 1,085.Notice issued to LNJPThe Supreme Court also issued a separate notice to the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital, from where video of patients lying neglected in COVID-19 wards had emerged.“Patients are running from pillar to post to get admitted while large numbers of beds are vacant. According to some reports, a government hospital in Delhi had bodies in lobby and waiting area. Inside the ward, most beds were unoccupied,” the apex court noted.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that some of the visuals were “shocking”.News channel India TV had also claimed that its reporters had got footage from inside LNJP Hospital which showed a deceased patient’s body lying under a bed without clothes and reportedly no provision for saline drips.Also read: Now, Reports Find Delhi Government Under-Reporting COVID-19 DeathsThe channel also spoke to hospital medical superintendent who claimed that the body of a patient was lying under the bed because “the clothes of the patient were removed for chest pumping”. Stating that this “patient could not be saved”, he commented that “his body slipped off the hospital bed and the video was shot at the same moment.”On why the bodies lay unattended, Kumar’s clarification was that it usually took an hour to disinfect them before sending them to the mortuary.Kumar said patients had taken off their garments to escape the heat as the AC had had to be switched off, given the threat to the spread of the disease. Several hospitals have made slight alterations to their systems and installed filters to prevent the spread of virus through the ACs.Earlier this week, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had also issued a notice to the Centre and the Delhi government on a complaint filed by Congress leader Ajay Maken alleging COVID-19 mismanagement in Delhi. The notice had come around the time deputy CM Manish Sisodia announced that the COVID-19 cases were expected to surge to 5.5 lakh by July end. A team of NHRC also visited LNJP Hospital on June 11 to see the situation for itself.