Hospitals can’t turn away suspect cases

If order violated, hospitals to be booked under KPME Act, says govt    Apollo, Vikram face punitive action 

Published: 15th July 2020 06:12 AM  |   Last Updated: 15th July 2020 06:12 AM   |  A+A A-

A boy seated in Hanumanthnagar is found selling disinfectants due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru.

A boy seated in Hanumanthnagar is found selling disinfectants due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru. (Photo | Nagaraja Gadekal, EPS)

By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Hospitals should mandatorily admit patients and not deny treatment, and if they violated the order, they will be booked under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishment Act and Disaster Management Act, stated a government circular on Tuesday.Even if a patient has not yet given samples for a Covid test, hospitals are expected to admit him/her as a Covid suspect and keep them in isolation wards in the Covid part of the hospital. 

After the test results are out and if found positive, patients should be shifted to a Covid ward. The same rule applies to ambulances too and they cannot refuse to shift a patient to a hospital once the 108 helpline gets a call of a patient in distress. 

If an asymptomatic, positive patient calls 108, he/she needs to give details or show a message received on the phone or through Arogya Setu app to prove that they have tested positive. The ambulance will then pick them up and drop them at Covid Care Centres. If the patient needs to be shifted from a CCC to a designated hospital, the ambulance needs to come and pick up the patient.