BENGALURU : With positive cases on the decline, private hospitals in Bengaluru will no longer have to reserve half of beds for COVID-19 care. The order, signed by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad, was issued on November 17 with immediate effect.
The COVID+ve Hospital Bed Management System (CHBMS) portal will now take into consideration only general and High Dependence Unit (HDU) beds at government hospitals and government medical colleges. Private medical facilities including medical colleges will be roped in again if state-run facilities fall below 10 per cent of overall availability.
Private facilities may also be roped in for exceptional cases which require hospitalisation at the nearest facility or if a patient’s condition demands specialised care available at a private establishment. BBMP will follow the same procedure for patients from elsewhere in the state who seek hospital care in Bengaluru.
If 90 per cent of beds at government institutions are occupied, the CHBMS will take steps to release beds in private hospitals for the Zonal Command and Control Centres (ZCCC) to assign to patients.
Official figures show that the number of active cases from October 1-15 was 63,180, of which 18,364 (29 per cent) were admitted to hospitals, and from October 16-31 active cases were 37,778 and hospital admissions were 10,972 (29 per cent). In the first half of November, active cases were 19,335 of which 5,894 (30 per cent) were admitted to hospital.
Data also shows that as of November 16, only 2,058 (18 per cent) of 11,593 beds across all hospitals and COVID Care Centres (CCC) were occupied. The remaining 9,535 were vacant. Due to this situation, the Suvarna Aarogya Suraksha Trust urged the Department of Health and the BBMP to rethink the order on reservation of hospital beds in private facilities.