‘Why No COVID-19 Tests At Gandhi Hospital?’  

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday expressed shock over COVID-19 tests not being conducted at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad which is the nodal centre for COVID-19 treatment in the state. The high court heard petitions on the conduct of COVID-19 tests and treatment being provided to virus patients. It directed the government to conduct COVID-19 tests at Gandhi Hospital.

The high court also suggested to the government to regulate the private hospitals with the powers bestowed to it by the Central government. Also, in an interesting observation, it asked the state government what action is being initiated against Yashoda and KIMS hospitals which taxed the COVID-19 patients with hefty bills of Rs 4 lakhs.

The high court has also directed the government to fix a cap on charges for all types of tests at private diagnostic centres. Besides this, it has also suggested to the government to extensively publicize the availability of beds and ventilators in hospitals. In another observation, the state government was also asked if treatment for Coronavirus is also done at the ESI Hospital in Nacharam.

The Telangana High Court has directed the state government to submit a detailed report on this by July 27.