Karnataka Govt to regulate supply of Remdesivir to private hospitals

Karnataka Government to regulate the supply of Remdesivir to private hospitals to check black marketing and hoarding. Currently, Remdesivir which is now available in the government hospitals henceforth will be supplied to private hospitals through the government supply chain.

A decision to this effect was taken at the Covid-19 task force committee meeting. The committee is to be formed to supervise and recommend the purchase of equipment and medicines for Covid treatment. The committee will be headed by ACS, ITBT Department.

Approval for purchase of equipment and upgradation of existing facilities at government hospitals at the cost of ₹500 crore. The committee also decided to hike the salaries of doctors and nurses. This hike is applicable for the next six months.

The Task Force meeting which was incomplete on Monday, concluded today attended by all in-charge ministers along with Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar.

Panel's other decisions

The other important decisions taken by the task force committee meeting are:

* Four lakh antigen test kits and five lakh swab test kits to be purchased to ramp up testing.

* Approval for additional drugs for treatment of Covid -19 patients.

* Government fixes the rate for Covid tests at government and private labs - ₹2,000 for government referred cases and ₹3,000 for self-reporting cases.

* Strict action will be initiated against private hospitals which charge more than the government fixed rates for Covid testing.

* Private hospitals are to reserve 50 per cent beds for the government for Covid treatment. Remaining 50 per cent can be utilized by the private hospitals for Covid and non-Covid treatments.

* Private hospitals to provide treatment under Ayushman Bharat Scheme (ABARK) for Covid patients. Those cases in which treatment does not cover under the scheme can be charged as per the user charges.

* 2,59,263 N-95 masks and PPE kits are procured for the safety of healthcare workers.

* The Oxygen pipeline will be connected to 4,736 beds in 17 government medical colleges. This will enable high flow oxygen for these beds and be beneficial for future use as well.

* 16 RTPCR and 15 Automated RNA extraction units will be established to ramp up testing. This will help to achieve the target of 50,000 tests per day.

* Ayush Doctors to get ₹48,000 monthly pay, MBBS doctors to get ₹80,000 and Nurses to get ₹30,000 as a monthly salary for the next six months.