BHOPAL: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that, if private hospitals charge more than the fixed rate from Covid patients, action will be taken against them. He was addressing a meeting to review the corona situation in Madhya Pradesh.

However, the government, itself, had laid down the guideline in September 2020 for private hospitals that private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients could charge only 40 per cent more than the rates prevalent at the time before the outbreak.

The chief minister also gave instructions for arrangement of beds at the tehsil and block levels. He spoke to the deans of Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur Medical Colleges, Dr SK Bhadari of Indore, doctors of LN Medical College and People’s Medical College and took stock of the situation there.

The chief minister also said that the districts had been given targets for testing and, accordingly, they had to increase the number of tests; they should also promote and encourage home isolation. Patients should be hospitalised only in a serious condition, he added.

The chief minister also instructed officials not only to keep a close vigil on wedding functions, but also obtain the details of the guests and to note who was coming from which district. District-wise details of guests is a must for the district administration to curb the spike in corona cases, he added.

The chief minister also stressed the need for taking feedback from doctors, paramedical staff of government, as well as private, hospitals and the public. A corona volunteer campaign is being launched to take support from the public, he added.

Ratlam OIC Anupam Rajan informed the meeting that vaccination had been made mandatory for businessmen of above 45 years of age in Ratlam, while Barwani OIC Vivek Porwal said that beds were being reserved in private hospitals for Covid patients.

19% C+ve rate in Bhopal

Bhopal leads with 19 per cent corona-positive rate in the state, followed by Barwani, which reported a 16 per cent positive rate. Indore, Khargone and Ratlam reported a positive rate of 15 per cent each. Betul reported 13 per cent and Jabalpur reported 11 per cent.