Gear up for third Covid-19 wave, BBMP tells private hospitals in Bengaluru

The BBMP has asked private hospitals and nursing homes in the city to start preparations to handle a possible surge in Covid cases.

In his meeting with the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Special Commissioner (Health) Dr K V Thrilok Chandra asked them to ensure they are ready to reserve beds for Covid patients.

“The number of cases in the city isn’t high but private hospitals should be ready to reserve beds for Covid treatment according to the previous government order as a precautionary measure,” Dr Chandra said, adding that they should upload real-time bed availability to the PHANA portal.

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Hospitals have also been advised to reserve beds for paediatric cases and ensure sufficient availability of oxygen and related infrastructure. Senior BBMP officials who attended the meeting told DH that the BBMP was in the process of preparing a database of private hospitals along with the number of beds available in each of them.

“Every time the government asks the private hospitals to surrender a percentage of beds, there is confusion and we have noticed hospitals declaring that they have fewer beds. Hence, BBMP teams will visit every hospital and prepare a database with the number of beds and type of beds available,” the official said. The inspection teams will also verify if all the necessary measures are implemented.

The BBMP also directed private hospitals to ensure all ILI and SARI patients visiting their facilities are tested for Covid. Other patients should also be referred to test if they show any symptoms, Chandra said, advising hospitals to ensure patients are fully vaccinated.

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