Hospital rates to get cheaper in Delhi; hospitals can\'t charge above Rs 18\,000 for ICUs per day

Hospital rates to get cheaper in Delhi; hospitals can't charge above Rs 18,000 for ICUs per day

Coronavirus in Delhi: The MHA capped prices in Delhi private hospitals. The new rates begin at Rs 8,000 and go on till Rs 18,000 as opposed to the current rates that go up to Rs 54,000

Coronavirus crisis: MHA caps prices in priavte hospitals

The Ministry of Home Affairs said on Friday that the government has put a cap on hospital rates to help the common man in Delhi. The rates now start from Rs 8,000 and go on to Rs 18,000 as opposed to the current charges that begin at Rs 24,000 and go up to Rs 54,000 per day.

Home Minister Amit Shah constituted a committee to fix rates in private hospitals for isolation beds, ICUs with ventilator and without ventilator, the ministry said in a series of tweets. "To provide relief to the common man in Delhi, HM AmitShah constituted a committee under Member of NITIAayog to fix rates charged by Pvt hospitals in Delhi for isolation beds, ICUs without ventilator support & ICUs with ventilator support," it said.

The ministry added that the committee recommended Rs 8,000-10,000 for isolation beds, Rs 13,000-15,000 for ICUs without ventilator and Rs 15,000-18,000 for ICUs with ventilators. The rates also include PPE costs. The current rates that go up to Rs 54,000 do not include PPE costs, the ministry had stated.

The MHA also said that house-to-house survey in 242 containment zones was undertaken as directed by Amit Shah. The survey that ended on Thursday was done on 2.3 lakh people.

The government also said that to increase testing capacity and quick delivery of results in Delhi, Rapid Antigen testing began on Thursday. So far, 7,040 people across 193 centres have been tested.

Sample testing has also been doubled, the ministry said. "A total of testing samples of 27,263 have been collected in Delhi from June 15 to June 17," it said. Earlier daily collection varied between 4,000-4,500, the MHA said.

These measures come as Delhi continues to see a sharp increase in the number of cases. The national capital has 49,979 cases of coronavirus so far, with 26,669 active cases, 21,341 discharges and 1,969 deaths.