Kathmandu, June 6
As per a rule issued by the Ministry of Health and Population, only the facilities listed by the government as Covid-19 hospitals should carry out treatment against the coronavirus infection. All the facilities on the list are owned by the government itself.
However, a private hospital in Kathmandu has begun treatment against the disease on Friday, claiming the patient’s kin did not agree to transfer the patient to a government-listed, government-run hospital. Apparently, the government is under pressure now to revise its rule; however, no decision has been made yet.
On Friday, two persons admitted to HAMS Hospital have been diagnosed with Covid-19. Whereas one had already been discharged, the other, a 60-year-old man from Kaski, was undergoing treatment against a different ailment. After the confirmation of Covid-19, the hospital tried to transfer him, but the patient’s kin did not agree.
Hence, the doctors have been treating him at the hospital itself following the guidelines issued by the WHO though it violates the government rule, according to the hospital’s chairman Ram Sharan Bhandari.
The ministry’s spokesperson Dr Bikas Devkota, however, says, “As of now, the treatment should have been held at a government hospital. The ministry has not made any decision about what to do if the patients want to stay at private hospitals.”
Confused, Devkota assures, “Hopefully, we will make a decision tomorrow.”
