BBMP Commissioner warned of stringent action against private hospitals hiding actual availability of beds

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner N Manjunath on Sunday warned of stringent action against those private hospitals who are hiding the truth about the availability of beds.

"We found some private hospitals are hiding the truth about beds in the hospitals. Stringent action will be taken against private hospitals which are hiding the facts about bed availability, the owner will be sent to jail under the Disaster Management Act," Manjunath said.

"The chief minister has already given clear direction to handover 50 per cent beds to treat patients," added Manjunath.

On July 8, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa convened a meeting with the Private Medical College Hospitals to assess COVID-19 management and directed them to provide 50 per cent of the beds, as promised, with effect from Sunday.

The chief minister said that private medical college hospitals need to cooperate as there is a sharp rise in COVID-10 cases in the city. He further said that it has come to the notice of the government that some institutes are denying treatment of COVID-19 as well as non-COVID patients.

A total of 4,120 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Karnataka on Sunday, of which 2,156 cases are from Bengaluru. Total number of cases rise 63,772 including 39,370 active cases.

The death toll rose to 1,331 after 91 deaths were reported today, the state Health Department said.

( With inputs from ANI )