Karnataka to reserve hospital beds for SARI patients without Covid-19 test

Karnataka Health Commissioner conducted an online meeting with government and private hospitals here on Monday to ensure that beds are immediately provided to patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) without a confirmatory Covid-19 test.

The hospitals empanelled with the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust were instructed to reserve ICU beds according to fixed targets, and add beds where necessary.

Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey also issued a circular that stated that patients with SARI will be admitted to a Covid hospital as a potential Covid case. The patients will then undergo a Covid test, and in the case of a positive test result, he/she will be transferred from isolation to the Covid block of the hospital. If the test is negative, the patients will be shifted from the isolation ward to the non-Covid block.

To prevent hospitals from turning away a person with SARI without a Covid test, Jawaid Akhtar, the Additional Chief Secretary (Health) held a meeting in which it was decided that 15 hospitals (five government and ten private) will be identified who will admit such patients and treat them according to their symptoms. They will reserve 143 beds, in total, including beds with oxygen support, and beds in the ICU with and without ventillators.

The 15 hospitals are: Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, KC General Hospital, CV Raman General Hospital, Jayanagar General hospital, Bangalore Baptist Hospital, Chinmaya Mission Hospital, HBS Hospital Trust, ProMed Hospital, Sakra Hospital, Santhosh Hospital, Saptagiri Super Speciality Hospital, SSNMC Super Speciality Hospital, St Philomenas Hospital, and Vikram Hospital.