Lucknow, Jun 3 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister, Keshav Prasad Maurya has said that he empathised with the pain of non-corona patients who have faced problems during the lockdown.

During a video conferencing session with the BJP workers in Meerut on Tuesday, the Deputy Chief Minister said, "I can feel the pain of the non-corona patients who have faced problems and I seek forgiveness from them. Some steps were taken only to protect them because the majority of those who have died of COVID-19 had a history of other critical diseases."

This is the first time that a BJP leader in the state has expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to non-corona patients during the lockdown.

He said that a plan of action is being prepared to ensure that not only the government, but also the private hospitals admit patients with critical diseases. He said that the government will make sure that people are not put to any inconvenience on this issue.

There have been reports that several non-Corona patients have lost their lives after being denied treatment by private hospitals during the lockdown.

Meanwhile, reacting to a recent incident in which a monkey snatched blood samples of Covid-19 positive patients from a lab technician in Meerut, Maurya said, "This was a rare case which nobody could have foreseen. However, the opposition tweeting against this matter only lowers the morale of the doctors, pathologists and nursing staff."

Asked about why sampling of not even one per cent of the state's population has been done, he said it was near impossible to conduct sampling of the entire population of the state and the government was focusing on symptomatic cases.

Maurya also said that efforts are being made to provide jobs to migrants in various sectors and the majority of them would get employment as per their skill.