KATHMANDU: The government has directed private hospitals to reserve 20 percent of their beds for COVID-19 patients.
Issuing a circular, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) told private hospitals to set aside 20 percent of their total bed capacities for the management of COVID-19 patients.
The notice issued by the Health Emergency and Disaster Management Unit of the ministry on Friday comes in the wake of a rapid surge in coronavirus cases in the country, particularly in Kathmandu valley.
Due to the rapid rise of new infection cases, coronavirus-designated hospitals in Kathmandu valley are getting overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. The instruction to private hospitals is aimed at addressing the possible shortage of beds, according to the ministry.
Following the instruction of the ministry, private hospitals will now have to reserve at least 20 percent of their beds for COVID-19 patients.
According to the notice of the ministry, private hospitals should admit any patient admitted in the hospital tested positive should be managed by the same hospital in collaboration with the hub hospitals.
The government has designated 25 hospitals across the country as hub hospitals. For private hospitals in Kathmandu Valley, they should coordinate with hub hospitals and take permission from the health ministry to admit new COVID-19 patients, according to the notice.
Earlier, hospitals used to refer COVID-19 patients to coronavirus-designated hospitals.
According to the ministry, the country recorded 594 new cases and four COVID-19 related deaths in the last 24 hours that included 119 new cases in the Kathmandu valley alone.
As of Friday evening, the total confirmed coronavirus cases of Nepal surged to 25,551. A total of 99 COVID-19 patients have lost their lives while 17,077 have recovered from the disease.
