Govt ropes in pvt sec to cure Corona patients

As the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in India increased to 137 on Tuesday, the government sought the help of the private sector in treating patients. The government has asked private hospitals to earmark beds and isolation rooms and has given the green signal for about 50 diagnostic laboratories. The National Health Authority, nodal agency for Ayushman Bharat (the health insurance scheme for the poor), has also firmed up the protocol and health packages for the poor in case India enters the next stage – the community transmission phase – and  they are treated in private hospitals. The third stage of the disease marks a shift from the policy of depending solely on state-run hospitals for the treatment of patients and testing of potentially infected people.

“We are engaging with high quality NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) accredited private labs for testing after they came forward and showed interest,” said Balram Bhargava, director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The Health Ministry issued guidelines for private institutions, Ayush practitioners and private practitioners, making it mandatory for them to notify Covid-19 cases to their respective district surveillance units.