Private hospitals and those run by the BSF and Army will provide treatment to non-Covid-19 patients of the Shillong civil hospital, with the expenditure to be borne under the Megha Health Insurance Scheme and Ayushman Bharat.

In a meeting convened by Meghalaya health minister A.L. Hek on Monday, the hospitals agreed to take patients who could be evacuated from the Shillong civil hospital once any positive Covid-19 case has been detected.The Shillong and Tura civil hospitals, which are run by the state government, have been designated as Covid-19 hospitals. Till date, Meghalaya has not detected a single case.

Hek said till Monday, 78 samples were tested at NEIGRIHMS at Mawdiangdiang and all tested negative for Covid-19.“But if we detect any positive case, we will have to move the patients out from the Shillong civil hospital. The private hospitals have agreed to treat them. The expenditure will be borne under the caps available according to the Megha Health Insurance Scheme and Ayushman Bharat,” he said.

Even for those patients who have not registered themselves under the scheme, Hek said the expenditure would be covered by the scheme itself.

The scheme coverage has been increased to Rs 5 lakh per household from the previous Rs 2.8 lakh.

Hek said even students from outside the state and migrant labourers who are currently stranded in Meghalaya in view of the nationwide lockdown will be treated under the scheme.

The minister clarified that the expenditure for treating all Covid-19 patients will be borne by the government. However, no patient has been shifted from Shillong civil hospital. For Garo hills, he said talks would be held with the private hospitals in Tura to ensure that the same method is followed.

Meghalaya has set the categories of Covid-19 patients as asymptomatic but positive patients, mildly symptomatic patients, severe symptomatic patients (needing hospitalisation) and critical patients (ICU and ventilator support).

For the first and second categories, he said corona care centres have been set up with 275 quarantine beds and 293 other beds across the state. The centres are in IIM Shillong, Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute, Mawdiangdiang, MIIT, Dhankheti, Pastoral Centre and SMELC, Tura.

For the third category of patients, there are 458 beds without ventilators but equipped with oxygen supply.

For the last category, 64 ICU beds with ventilators have been identified. In case of any surge capacity, the state is equipped to handle 70 critical patients at any time.