Charges for COVID-19 beds in Delhi’s private hospitals slashed to one-third, testing made cheaper and faster, says Harsh Vardhan

New Delhi: COVID-19 management in Delhi has been streamlined, from health surveys to testing and caps on in-patient private hospital costs, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. His remarks came after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) approved recommendations of a high-level expert committee for fixing rates of hospital beds for treatment of coronavirus patients. Rates for isolation beds, ICUs without and with ventilator in all hospitals have been capped at Rs 8,000-10,000, Rs 13,000-15,000 and Rs 15,000-18,000 respectively. Testing has also been ramped up in the national capital after the Centre purchased six lakh testing kits from South Korea for rapid testing, out of which 50,000 have been made available to Delhi and a target of 15,000 tests per day is being worked on, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said. Taking to Twitter, Vardhan said, “From health surveys to testing and cap on in-patient private hospital costs, COVID-19 management in Delhi has been streamlined. Charges for isolation beds in Private Hospitals for COVID patients slashed to about one-third. Cheaper and faster Rapid Antigen testing started.”

From health surveys to testing & cap on in-patient private hospital costs, #COVID19 management in #Delhi has been streamlined

👉Charges for isolation beds in Pvt Hospitals for #COVID patients slashed to about one-third

👉Cheaper & faster Rapid Antigen testing started pic.twitter.com/zVavlmxBfX

— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) June 20, 2020

For the first time, Delhi recorded 3,137 fresh coronavirus cases on Friday in its highest single-day spike so far, pushing the tally to 53,116 cases. With 66 fatalities in 24 hours, the death toll reached 2,035 in the city. Delhi has the highest number of cases after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. With regards to fatalities, it has the maximum number after Maharashtra.