Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has taken a significant step to stop harassment of the patient party in transferring a Covid positive patient to a safe home or to a COVID-19 hospital. The move comes in the wake of complaints from patient parties about exorbitant charges by some ambulances for transporting a Covid patient to a suitable facility. "If a patient who has come for treatment of any ailment in a private nursing home or hospital (which is not Covid) is found positive, the concerned nursing home will first ensure the availability of beds in Covid hospitals or safe homes (whichever is needed) with the state Health department and will accordingly make arrangement for ambulance for hassle free transportation of the patient. All private hospitals in Kolkata will be soon apprised by the state Health department about this management practice to be followed in case of COVID positive patients," said a senior official of KMCs Health department after a high level review meeting at the civic body chaired by state Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay who is also the nodal officer of KMC for COVID-19. Bandyopadhyay told reporters that the state Health department as well as the KMC is augmenting its ambulance fleet for smooth and safe transportation of COVID-19 positive persons. "The Health department will soon make available over 110 ambulances while Kolkata Municipal Corporation that already has 25 ambulances will take the number to 30 within two- three days. The KMC has also put in place GPS tracking system to monitor the movement of its ambulances, " he added. The Health officials of KMC involved in door to door surveillance has been asked to prepare a list of the people suffering from co morbidities. "We will give preference to swab tests of these people with co morbidities so that we can detect whether he / she is Covid positive. We have seen that people who have died of Covid usually suffers from co morbidities. This will bring down the mortality rate of Covid further," said Atin Ghosh, Member of Board of Administrators who is in charge of KMCs Health department.

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