COVID crisis: Karnataka govt asks private hospitals to put up bed allocation display board

On Wednesday, July 16, the Karnataka government directed all private hospitals registered under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act to arrange a bed allocation display board in the reception area. This assumes significance in the wake of COVID-19 patients finding difficulty in getting beds even after the allocation is made by BBMP's central allocation system in Bengaluru. On June 23, 50% of beds in private hospitals were reserved to treat COVID-19 patients referred by public health authorities.

The display board should contain details such as the name of the hospital, total number of beds, total number of beds reserved for COVID-19 patients and type of beds- isolation beds, ICU beds, ICU beds with ventilators, beds with high flow oxygen and beds with regular flow oxygen. The data displayed on the bed allocation board must tally with the data of BBMP's central bed allocation system. This display board has to be arranged by July 16. The private hospitals in violation of this order can be punished under the relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act and the Indian Penal Code. Currently, Bengaluru is again witnessing a lockdown with only essential services permitted to operate. 

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COVID-19 situation in Karnataka

Karnataka witnessed a huge surge in the number of COVID-19 cases with 2,496 people testing positive for the novel coronavirus between 5 pm on July 13 and 5 pm on July 14. The state's COVID-19 tally surged to 44,077 including 25,839 active cases. After 87 people died owing to the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, Karnataka's death toll rose to 842. On July 14, 23,674 samples were tested in various laboratories across the state. Out of Karnataka's total increase in cases, Bengaluru accounted for 1,267 new COVID-19 patients. Currently, there are 9,36,181 novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 5,92,032 patients have been discharged while 24,309 fatalities have been reported.

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