Karnataka: Criminal Cases Against Private Hospitals That Refuse Treatment To Covid-19 Patients

Karnataka which had been at the forefront of creating the required infrastructure to deal with the pandemics has had to encounter an unpredented surge in numbers especailly after Unlock 1, with the numbers crossing 20,000 on Sunday. One of the key reasons has been the huge number of people returning from other states especially Maharashtra and international returnees.

Bengaluru tops the list followed by Udupi with both seeing very high single day surges in the last one week. But along with active cases, there have been reports of deaths owing to delay in and often refusal to admit patients by private hospitals. In repsonse to complaints by citizens regarding the denial of treatment by private hospitals, Minister for Medical Education on Sunday Dr Sudhakar said criminal charges will be registered against such hospitals.

“No hospital should refuse to admit patients and if any hospital is found denying treatment, criminal cases will be registered against them,” said Sudhakar addressing the media, adding that patients can call the helpline 1912 to receive assistance in this regard.

In order to address issues pertaining to lack of ambulances to ferry patients, two ambulances will be stationed in every ward of Bengaluru. A total of 400 ambulances will thus be available in the city, he said.

Meanwhile the largest Covid care centre (CCC) with 10,100 beds is being setup at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), of which 100 will be beds with ICU facilities. Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwathnarayan who visited the centre on Sunday said 7000 beds will be ready today (6 July) while another 3000 will be available later this week.

All asymptomatic patients will be directed to this centre from this week. The government has also made available 10 ICU beds in every Covid care centre, said Narayan. The government currently has three CCCs at the Art of Living ashram, Haj Bhavan and GKVK, and another two will at the Koramangala indoor stadium and the Government Ayurvedic college will soon be opened, he informed.