Andhra govt to foot Rs 1.5 cr hospital bill of govt doctor battling COVID-19
The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to bear the treatment cost of Rs 1.5 crore for a government doctor with COVID-19 who has been battling for life in a Hyderabad hospital. Dr N Bhaskar Rao, who was advised to be put on ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and undergo a lung transplant, couldn’t afford the treatment cost of Rs 1.5 crore. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the state government would bear the treatment cost for the 38-year-old doctor.
Dr N Bhaskar Rao has been working as the medical officer at the Karamchedu PHC (Primary Health Centre) in Prakasam district. His wife Dr Bhagyalakshmi, is an Assistant Professor at Guntur Medical College. Both of them tested positive for the coronavirus and were admitted at the Guntur GGH (Government General Hospital) on April 30, and were administered Remdesivir as part of the treatment. Later on May 3, Bhaskar Rao was shifted to a private hospital named Aayush Hospital in Vijayawada, as his condition worsened.
On May 9, he was shifted to Yashoda Hospital, Somajiguda in Hyderabad, where he had to be placed on ventilator support. On May 10, he was shifted to Care Hospital in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, where doctors have now said that he requires a lung transplant. Andhra Pradesh Doctors Association thanked the Chief Minister for bearing the treatment cost.
As of June 5, there were 1,28,108 active COVID-19 cases in the state as per government records. In the 24-hour-period ending at 9 am on June 5, 10,373 fresh COVID-19 cases were registered, after 88,441 samples were tested for the coronavirus. So far, a total of 11,376 people in the state have succumbed to COVID-19 as per official records. Chittoor district has recorded the highest number of deaths (1,364), followed by East Godavari (1,001) and Krishna (1,000).
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