The ferocious spread of COVID-19 in Bengaluru – 16,662 new cases and 124 deaths on Friday alone –has civic officials on edge. With the day-on-day rise in the number of reported cases straining the limits of the existing medical infrastructure, the BBMP has proposed to the Karnataka government to take over the 12 private medical colleges in the city and convert them into dedicated COVID-19 hospitals.
A senior health official told The Hindu that the increase in caseload was more than anticipated. “The numbers are beyond what even the expert committee predicted. We have around 8,000 beds and are working towards increasing the number to 11,000. However, given the rate of spread, we may need more beds,” the official said.
It is in the backdrop of this desperate and volatile situation that senior health officials have proposed to take over the 12 private medical colleges.
“This way, we will have at least 12,000 beds available. We can synchronise all our resources, improve triaging and have better coordination,” said another official.. He added that this had been discussed during many review meetings with the Karnataka government. However, the government is yet to make a decision.
1,055 beds in 10 COVID-19 Care Centres vacant
The BBMP has established 10 COVID-19 Care Centres (CCCs) with two more likely to be set up by the weekend. With this, a total of 1,601 beds have been added to the Central Hospital Bed Management System.
In a statement, the BBMP said of the total 1,601 beds in the 10 CCCs, 546 are occupied. Once the two other facilities are established at Government Arts College and Sai Kalyan Mantap in East zone, an additional 350 beds will be available.
The government has also approved setting up of step-down hospitals by private medical facilities and hotels, and has fixed a ceiling on tariff depending on the category of hotel.
According to an order issued on Thursday, the per day ceiling for such a facility in budget hotels is ₹8,000, ₹10,000 in three star hotels, and ₹12,000 in a five star.