By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Oct. 21: Minister for Health and Population Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal has said that around 2,600 Intensive Care Units (ICUs) with ventilators are available and in ready condition for use across the country, while additional 400 are in the process to operate .
Minister Dhakal shared this information in a video message on Tuesday, adding further that work was underway to add 3,500 units with oxygen and monitors. Meanwhile, he clarified that there was no change in the existing policy on dead body management of those who die from COVID-19 infection.
“2,600 ICUs are in ready condition nationwide, while 400 are being prepared and will be added soon. Also the work on adding 3,500 high-dependency units is ongoing at a rapid pace,” said Minister Dhakal.
Meanwhile, Minister Dhakal also clarified that the decision on the option of charging fees from citizens for the treatment and testing of COVID-19 was made as per the demand and request of citizens themselves.
Minister Dhakal said that the government was fully committed to citizens’ constitutional rights and respects and was sensitive to the order of the Supreme Court.
As per the recent decision of the council of ministers on October 5, the government has decided to bear the expenses for COVID treatment of the economically poor, people with disabilities, single women, senior citizens above 70, frontline workers, security forces and other civil servants serving in high-risk sectors, among others, in case they display symptoms.
In aforementioned cases their test and treatment will be done free of cost by the government and this also establishes the principle of social justice and equality in health care, he said.
This decision was taken in order to make COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment more effective and since it was important to give sense of assurance to the citizens falling under these categories, he added. Health infrastructures have been developed to cater to the treatment needs of all citizens, Minister Dhakal added.
“There is no discrimination in the treatment of the patients seeking treatment at the MoHP-designated COVID-19 hospitals. Arrangement has been made for free testing and treatment for the poor, disabled, single women, senior citizens above 70 years of age, frontline health workers, cleaning staffs as well as security forces and civil servants working in high-risk sectors. Also, if other citizens who do not fall under these categories visit these hospitals and if they have poor economic condition, as recommended by the hospital or through self-declaration by the family members, that they are unable to bear the treatment costs, the government will bear all the costs of such patients,” clarified Minister Dhakal. A very convenient system is in place to implement this provision too and there is no need for any recommendation from any authorities or person, he added.
In order to ensure access to quality health care to citizens and as per the demand of the citizens and in agreement and partnership with the private sector, fee-based services are made available to those who can afford to pay, said minister Dhakal and added that this had paved the way to those who can afford and wish to avail of treatment services on their own.
3,093 new cases detected
Meanwhile, the national COVID-19 caseload has surged to 139,129 with the confirmation of 3,093 new cases on Tuesday.
"In 13,861 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests done

in the last 24 hours, 3,093 persons were found to be infected with COVID-19," informed Dr. Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) in the regular press briefing today.
Among the total COVID-19 cases, 1,702 were reported in the Kathmandu Valley.
Of the 1,702 new cases, 1,431 were detected in Kathmandu, 148 were found in Bhaktapur and 123 were recorded in Lalitpur.
According to MoHP, there are 41,755 active cases of COVID-19 of which 13,559 patients are receiving treatment in institutional isolation and 28,196 are in home isolation. Of the active cases, 273 are admitted to the ICUs of various hospitals across the nation.
Similarly, 2,108 COVID-19 patients, either receiving treatment at various health facilities or staying in home isolation, recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours. The recovery tally has reached 96,609 and the recovery rate stands at 60.4 per cent.
As per the latest update, eight patients receiving treatment at various health facilities across the nation succumbed to the novel coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours. COVID-19 death toll has now reached 765 in Nepal.