KATHMANDU, May 16: The Ministry of Health and Population has made new arrangements to treat COVID-19 infected in 11 different COVID-dedicated and other hospitals in the Valley. These hospitals will now decide whether to send the infected home, admit them or keep them in the ICU, depending on the situation. According to the new rule, the infected will have to go to the hospital. Earlier, patients used to stay at home and visit hospitals only after oxygen levels depleted. 

The ministry has decided to implement the new rule from Sunday, Jageshwar Gautam, spokesperson at the ministry, said. He said that this will help in timely treatment of critically ill patients and will make it easier to treat normal conditions at home. According to the ministry, the main hospitals and medical colleges in the Valley are included in the COVID Dedicated hospitals.

“The Nepal Medical College, Nobel Hospital, Army Hospital, Civil Service Hospital, Armed Police Hospital, Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Diseases Hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences are being managed as 'back up' hospitals,” Ministry’s Joint spokesperson Samir Kumar Adhikari said. Infected and referred patients from other places in critical condition will be managed in these hospitals. 

From now on, private COVID hospitals will have to go through the same process. WIth the new arrangement, the ministry has stated that the hospitals in the valley will have a capacity of 10,000 beds. Arrangements have been made for hospitals to provide treatment services at any time.

Spokesperson Gautam said that the shortage of oxygen in the Valley’s hospitals has been addressed after the Ministry of Health got the responsibility of oxygen management from COVID-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) from Friday. The ministry has made arrangements to collect the data on the number of patients from each hospital online and distribute oxygen accordingly.

 
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