: It’s been two days since Cyclone Vardah ripped through the city, and health services are gearing up to tackle any potential disease outbreak.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the State health department conducted nearly 150 medical camps where minor ailments were treated and surveillance conducted to check for diarrhoeal disease outbreaks. “Teams comprising four or five personnel each have been sent out. Food and water-related issues too are being dealt with,” said Director of Public Health K. Kolandaisamy. Around 20,000 residents have been treated at the camps so far. All hospitals and labs too, are monitoring cases, Dr. Kolandaisamy said.
Power has been restored at all government hospitals barring one or two remote primary health centres that are functioning on back-up, and all hospitals and health centres are functioning, he said.
The health department, in coordination with the revenue department, Chennai Corporation and local bodies, is focusing on preparatory measures to prevent the outbreak of any communicable diseases. “Our focus is on disposal of garden garbage and other types of garbage as well as ensuring the availability of clean water,” said State Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan. “Dengue mosquitoes have been swept away temporarily, however, we are making sure there is extensive application of bleaching powder, and reduction of mosquito breeding sources,” he said.
To ensure water is adequately chlorinated, spot checks are being conducted both at the source and distribution levels. “Around 50 teams have been designated to check private tanker chlorination levels,” he said.
Over the last two days, the department had, on a priority basis, cleared the campuses of hospitals of fallen trees and branches. On Wednesday, with the help of the NDRF, the campus of the Tambaram TB Sanatorium, where a lot of trees had fallen, was cleared. Clearing up of contamination is also ongoing.
On Tuesday, the Chennai Corporation held 33 medical camps in the city. A few hospitals including Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Government Royapettah Hospital had seen cyclone-related injuries such as cuts and soft tissue injuries.
