A doctor and a nurse were injured when some local residents assaulted staff members of Mai Hospital in Shahapur in the Old City of Belagavi on Sunday night.
The residents were agitated after learning that the hospital was trying to set aside half the beds for COVID-19 patients, following government orders.
They argued with the doctors that this could lead to spread of infections and reduce the beds for non-COVID-19 patients. When the doctors tried to reason with them that they were only acting as per government orders, the residents lost their temper and assaulted them, the hospital said in a police complaint.
Members of Indian Medical Association have threatened to close down all clinics and private hospitals if the police did not arrest the offenders immediately. Some IMA office-bearers met the Deputy Commissioner on Monday and sought protection for doctors working in private COVID-19 hospitals.
Milind Halgekar, Anand Patil, Rohit Joshi and others were present.
