COVID isolation ward with 250 beds kept ready in Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital

Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital has kept ready an isolation ward with 250 beds after thr rise in COVID-19 cases

Thoothukudi Government Medical College Dean G. Sivakumar inspects an equipment at the COVID intensive care unit at the hospital on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: N. Rajesh

Presupposing a spurt in COVID-19 cases, Government Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital has kept ready an isolation ward with 250 beds.

“We have always kept the isolation ward ready with oxygen supply, intensive care unit and ventilators to meet any eventuality,” said its Dean G. Sivakumar. The State government had already advised the hospital authorities to keep the isolation ward ready in the event of another wave of COVID.

The Dean made a surprise inspection of the isolation ward where on and off a COVID patient gets treated in the last several months. “Most of the days the ward remains empty but for a sporadic admittance of a patient,” Dr. Sivakumar said.

During the inspection, he checked whether all the beds were ready and equipment such as oxygen supply, ICU and ventilators functioned well. “We have to 120 beds with oxygen supply and 70 ICU beds. Besides, 75 ventilators have also been kept ready,” the Dean said.

“The COVID testing lab has adequate number of RTPCR kits and reagents. There is sufficient stock of medicines and oxygen cylinders. Our hospital also has an oxygen plant and two liquid medical oxygen storage tanks of 10 KLD and 6 KLD capacities. With this, we can have seamless supply of oxgyen to the isolation ward,” Dr. Sivakumar added.

Despite no patients getting admitted on many days, the hospital authorities have ensured that a doctor and nurses were available at the ward round the clock. The manpower can be scaled up anytime based on requirement, he said.