Tope: Won’t allow pvt hospitals to admit asymptomatic patients

After deciding to reserve 80% of beds at private hospitals in Mumbai for Covid patients, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday said that they will not allow these

After deciding to reserve 80% of beds at private hospitals in Mumbai for Covid patients, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday said that they will not allow these hospitals to admit asymptomatic patients as it will be unfair to patients in serious need of oxygen support.

HT Image

State health minister Rajesh Tope said that they will appoint a designated officer for each private hospital and all admissions will be routed through them.

“We have found that private hospitals are giving admissions to asymptomatic Covid positive patients. This is a sort of injustice to severe patients as they will need oxygen and ventilator support. We have decided to appoint a designated officer for every private hospital,” Tope said.

To deal with the shortage of beds for Covid-19 patients, the state government on May 22 decided to reserve 80% of the beds at all private hospitals in the city for those infected with the coronavirus.

The health minister also informed that they have introduced a new slab of ₹2,500 for Covid testing. “It will be applicable for those who choose to go to a private laboratory for testing and pick up their own reports,” he said.

The state had recently capped the Covid testing price at private laboratories to ₹2,200 and ₹2,800. The laboratories can charge up to ₹2,800 in case the services like swab collection and delivery reports are given at home. Labs can charge ₹2,200 if swab collection and delivery reports at done from hospitals.

Tope also asked Mumbaiites to dial 1916 or ward control room to get free ambulance services. “We have decided to keep five to 10 ambulances in every ward of the city. People can take benefit from the service free. Do not go for private ambulances as we have made available 500 ambulances for the city. Very soon, an addition of 150 more ambulances will be made to the current strength,” he said.