As India braces for the next stage of the coronavirus pandemic, state governments are marshalling resources to deal with a flood of cases. ...
As India braces for the next stage of the coronavirus pandemic, state governments are marshalling resources to deal with a flood of cases. With the public health sector already under strain, unable to provide sufficient beds, ventilators or intensive care units, several state governments have pressed private hospitals into service.
Isolation wards had already been set up in some private hospitals. On March 24, the Uttarakhand government announced private hospitals with 100 or more beds would have to reserve 25% of these for Covid-19 patients. Covid-19 is the disease caused by the newly discovered coronavirus.
At least three states – Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh – have gone further, issuing orders announcing that entire private hospitals would be temporarily taken over by the government for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
Healthcare for Covid-19 patients treated at these hospitals would be free, government officials in all three states said. But governments and private healthcare providers are still ironing out the details of the partnership.
Invoking the Epidemic Act
The states issued orders under rules flowing from the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 or state-specific variations of the Act. The colonial-era law empowers the state to enforce temporary regulations to fight the “outbreak of any dangerous epidemic disease”.
On March 25, the Chhattisgarh government...
