Karnataka scraps order allotting 50 pc hospital beds for Covid patients

Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Wednesday that in view of the pandemic’s waning third wave, the government had withdrawn a rule that required government and private hospitals to set aside 50 per cent of beds for Covid patients.

The decision comes a day after the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association urged the chief minister to release the beds reserved for Covid treatment, stating that the beds were mostly lying vacant and proving costly for the hospitals even as demand for non-Covid admission was rising.

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The test positivity rate fell to 3.55 per cent in Bengaluru on Wednesday. While 5,339 new Covid cases were reported across the state, Bengaluru registered 2,161 cases. There were 16,749 discharges. The number of active cases in Karnataka are 60,966.

Signed by T K Anil Kumar, principal secretary in the health and family welfare department, the now-withdrawn circular had also said that “while a minimum number of isolation beds shall be kept for Covid admission,” the health facilities should under no circumstances deny non-Covid services.