With the number of daily COVID-19 hospital admissions increasing from 20 to around 60 daily, the civic body is taking stock of the bed situation in the city.
Private hospitals have been directed to reserve beds for COVID-19 treatment by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta who chaired a virtual meeting with Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes’ Association (PHANA) and Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST) on Thursday.
This comes a day after the State Government issued an order mandating that all private hospitals and nursing homes reserve 30% beds under all categories for COVID-19 patients. This will mean that around 10,000 to 12,000 beds will be available in private hospitals in Bengaluru. The civic body has already put in place tele triaging teams, apart from mobile triaging teams in all wards. These teams will ascertain if the infected person needs hospitalisation. A majority of those with COVID-19 can recover under home isolation. In a release, BBMP stated that nodal officers had been directed to inspect hospitals, and collect data on the number of beds that are occupied and vacant. Helpdesks should be opened at hospitals with more than 100 beds.
Mr. Gupta, who also met with the hotels’ association, instructed them to make preparations to set up COVID-19 Care Centres (CCCs) and step down hospitals at hotels, besides tying up with private hospitals.
