The State ministerial task force on COVID-19, headed by Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan, has decided to hike the bed charges given to private hospitals for COVID-19 patients.
The task force, which met on Tuesday, decided to fulfil the demand of private hospitals to hike charges. Accordingly, the charge for oxygenated bed has been hike by ₹1,000 to make it ₹8,000 a day, while that for ICU bed without ventilator is up by ₹1,250 a day, making it ₹9,750. The charge for ICU bed with ventilator has been hiked by ₹1,500 a day, to take it to ₹11,500. The charges for non-critical care will remain at ₹5,200 a day.
The task force also decided to immediately take measures to procure RAT kits and other necessary consumables such as face masks and PPE kits.
The Deputy Chief Minister also said that those indulging in irregularities such as COVID-19 bed allotment blocking would be arrested under the stricter Goonda Act. The public can lodge complaints on 112, and extortion of patients will not be tolerated, he said, adding that policemen would be deployed to monitor such issues. To prevent the blocking of beds, he said that it has been made compulsory for both government and private hospitals to update on the SAST (Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust) portal on a real-time basis. Officials have been directed to strengthen the 1912 helpline, automate bed allotment, and create an integrated index app within two days to streamline COVID-19 management.
