Mangaluru: At a special session convened to discuss containment of the COVID19 Virus by Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister, Kota Srinivas Poojary, in the presence of Zilla panchayat members and senior district officials, noted that out of eight medical colleges in the district, four have the testing facility for COVID. He assured that the remaining four colleges have been directed, on the pain of penalties, to open such labs within 15 days. He told the meeting that testing at these hospitals will not depend upon the production of Aadhar cards only – any identification is enough he said. He said things will be back to normal soon. He said that the outpatient department has already been opened at Wenlock Hospital and the private hospitals also have been asked to open outpatient departments.
But Zilla Panchayat members were upset about the treatment meted out to COVID19 patients. They contended that private hospitals were robbing the people in the name of the COVID test and there is a lot of confusion regarding the ‘free treatment’ scheme announced.
District health officer Dr. Ratnakar, said that in the eight medical college hospitals treatment under Ayushmann Bharat scheme is available. However, expenses till the throat swab sample test have to be met by the patient, he said, adding that those who are asymptomatic, will be home quarantined but for children aged below ten and people aged above 60, and pregnant women who are infected will be isolated at the COVID care centers. He said that people with symptoms get free treatment for ten days under the Ayushmann Bharat scheme at the rate of Rs 5,000 per day in general wards. In the case of ICU with ventilators, under the said scheme, ten days treatment cost at the rate of Rs 25,000 would be met, he stated.
MLA Rajesh Naik demanded that family members of the deceased be allowed to attend the funeral of infected persons. Deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh, said that family members are now being allowed to be present at the funeral along with D group employees.
MLAs U T Khader, Sanjeeva Matandoor, Rajesh Naik, Harish Poonja, Umanath Kotian, and D Vedavyas Kamath, and MLC Pratap Sinha Nayak, spoke on the occasion. Zilla panchayat president Meenakshi Shantigodu, vice president Kasturi Panja and others were present.
