People from Bengaluru now scouting for beds in other cities

They are looking at Hubballi and Mysuru where situation is still under control

Reeling under severe shortage of ICU beds, oxygen beds and ventilators, families of COVID-19 positive patients from Bengaluru are travelling to ensure their kin get proper medical care in the time of acute distress. Residents are now occupying a good chunk of these beds in faraway places like Hubballi and Mysuru where the situation is still under control. What has caused anxiety in the Health Department is a possible acute shortage of facilities in these tier-2 cities that are also progressively reporting increasing number of COVID-19 patients. For example, Mysuru has a high COVID-19 positive ratio in respect to the population. If the beds are occupied by outsiders and a need arises for locals, the crisis may blow out of proportion, sources said. When Health Minister K. Sudhakar visited Mysuru on Thursday, he was informed that nearly 10% of the ICU beds were taken by people from Bengaluru. “This is a huge number. People with connections and money are travelling far for beds. Mysuru has a case fatality rate of 4%, whereas the CFR for State is 0.7%. Since no law prevents residents of Bengaluru from getting admitted elsewhere, nothing can be done,” sources said.