Karnataka govt to revoke licence of doctors who refuse treatment

In a significant move, the Covid-19 ministerial task force on Monday decided to revoke the licence of medical professionals who refuse to treat virus patients or attend to any other Covid mitigation work.

The government also decided to make use of the Rapid Antigen Testing method to detect cases in Bengaluru, after Ballari. This method will detect the presence of antigens with the help of throat swabs.

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The decision is expected to speed up the testing process in Bengaluru, which is seeing a spurt in cases.

According to Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai who took part in the task force meeting, "The test was successfully implemented in Ballari. We will now extend it to Bengaluru, by taking up the testing in fever clinics."

Roping in paramedical staff to overcome staff deficit in several places was another decision taken at the meeting.

On the other hand, the government has decided to provide PPE kits even to private medical professionals in order to boost morale among the medical community and to ensure their safety.

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"We also discussed the issue of strengthening government hospitals, apart from various ways in which we can coordinate with private hospitals. Another point discussed at the meeting was to ensure that those who test negative get to know about it at the earliest," Bommai told reporters.