Four clinics in Bengaluru were shut down by the Karnataka Health Department on Sunday. The step was taken as the 4 had been defaulting in reporting Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) cases in the city. This comes as there has been a rise in the number of COVID-positive cases in the city among those who've reported ILI and SARI symptoms.
Under the central guidelines all medical organisations, this includes clinics and labs apart from hospitals must report cases that have recorded ILI and SARI symptoms apart from COVID-19. When a notice was issued by the department to 17 organisations who had not been filing reports, 4 clinics didn't reply to the notice subsequently leading to the suspension of their licenses.
4 clinics shut in Bengaluru after not reporting ILI and SARI cases
In Bengaluru, there has been a marked rise in the number of patients with ILI or Influenza Like Illness. On Saturday alone, 2 deaths were reported both ILI cases in the city. On Sunday, it was announced that 4 clinics have been shut down in the city for not reporting ILI and SARI cases to the Karnataka health department.
The 4 clinics — Namma Clinic at Sahakaranagar, Panchamukhi Specialty Clinic at Peenya 2nd stage, Mathru Chaya Clinic in Sudhama Nagar, and Nayak Hospital in Gayathri Nagar— were found defaulting on their daily reports on cases, said the department official. The clinics' licenses were suspended for not complying to Epidemic Diseases Act, 1987, Disaster Management Act, 2005 and KPME Act.
All medical institutions registered with the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments must report cases who show ILI and SARI symptoms apart from COVID-19. The District Health Officer (DHO) said that the institutions are meant to log in and report cases on the online interface.
On June 5th a notice was sent 17 establishments failing to submit daily reports, following which 13 replied with adequate reason and admitted to failure, said the DHO. But the 4 who failed to respond to the notice saw their licenses suspended.
However, it's not just the 4 defaulting on the Act, Department of Health and Family Welfare reports that only 38% of the establishments registered with KPME are filing their daily reports. In Bengaluru where 7,313 organisations are listed with KPME, only 21% are filing their reports. The department asserts that all those found defaulting in the state will be penalised for their failure to submit reports on time.
