Tamil Nadu government on Saturday issued orders for Bewell Private Hospital's COVID-19 treatment licence in Chennai to be revoked temporarily. Situated at Kilpauk in the city, the state government resorted to the decision of cancelling the licence after the hospital had charged a coronavirus patient Rs. 12.20 lakhs for 19 days of treatment. 

Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar in a statement said the hospital was inspected after allegations and complaints of overcharging came about, after which a review on the treatment being given was done. The allegations against the hospital were found to be true as they were not adhering to the pricing cap ordered by the state, leading to the revoking of the COVID-19 treatment licence temporarily. 

Fixed rates were proposed by the state government for private hospitals providing treatment for coronavirus after several complaints of patients being overcharged came to light. A Government Order (GO) issued not long back had stated that Grade 1 and 2 hospitals can charge patients a maximum of Rs 7,500 per day in the general ward, while Grade 3 and 4 hospitals can charge Rs 5000. 

It is to be noted that the treatment of coronavirus patients in private hospitals was included under the Chief Minister's Health Insurance Scheme a while back by the state government. Treatment for coronavirus patients in government hospitals is at present free-of-cost across the state and in COVID-19 care centers. Furthermore, the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance scheme for treatment can be availed by families that have already enrolled themselves. 

Tamil Nadu recorded 5,879 fresh coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the overall tally of the state to 251,739 cases among which 56,738 are active cases. The day saw 7,010 persons getting discharged after making a recovery in hospital treatment, with the total currently standing at 1,90,966 persons. 99 deaths were reported across the state taking the total to 4,034 casualties. 

Chennai witnessed 1,074 new COVID-19 cases being reported taking the total to 1,00,877, of which 86,301 have been discharged and 12,436 are under treatment. The city alone has so far accounted for 2,140 deaths.