In another such incident, one more senior doctor has openly criticized the Delhi government’s action plan to tackle the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the capital.

AmbarishSatwik, who as per his Twitter bio is a vascular surgeon, put out a detailed thread why instinctive testing as prescribed by doctors is necessary even if it lies outside the guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Satwik said that any unrelated surgery on an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient can be catastrophic, because research shows a high risk of pulmonary complication in COVID-19 patients who underwent surgery.

A doctor’s plea to allow unhindered testing has come up at a time when the Delhi government is locked in a row with RML Hospital over coronavirus testing, and is probing several private labs for testing asymptomatic patients.

Satwik also pointed out, “Hospitals are duty bound to prevent COVID-19 cross-infections as those sick enough to be admitted (for other conditions) in the middle of a pandemic constitute the most vulnerable cohort.”

Satwik also suggested that the ICMR guidelines being adhered to in stopping hospitals from testing may well be dated.

Prior to this, Dr Srinivas Rajkumar T. was the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) whistle-blower who told the media that the N95 masks provided by the hospital for its medical staff don’t meet the safety standards set by the health ministry. He has now been expelled from the Resident Doctors Association (RDA) and now faces disciplinary action from the hospital’s administration as well.

In another such incident, Dr Anoop Saraya, the head of the Department of Gastroenterology at the AIIMS, criticised the government’s policies and communication strategies to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it was driven by clinicians and bureaucrats instead of epidemiologists and public health experts.