Mini COVID-19 Care Centres to be set up in 100 villages

Since village households do not have separate rooms for self-isolation, these centres will be of help to them, says official

A Mini COVID-19 Care Centre set up at Panchayat Union Primary School at Arumbanur in Madurai district.

In the wake of rise in fresh cases in rural areas, the district administration plans to establish Mini COVID-19 Care Centres at 100 village panchayats.

Deputy Director of Health Services K.V. Arjun Kumar said that earlier nearly 80% of the positive cases were from urban areas and the rest in rural areas. But, now, rural areas contribute 40% of the cases. Around 10,000 RT-PCR tests are conducted in the district every day - equal number in both rural and urban areas.

In blocks like Tirupparankundram, Madurai East and Madurai West, higher number of COVID-19 positive cases had been recorded, Dr. Arjun Kumar said.

Identifying this trend in the earlier stage, the district administration has decided to set up Mini COVID-19 Care Centres, said District COVID-19 Monitoring Officer B. Chandra Mohan. “Earlier identification, isolation and treatment will help in breaking the chain of COVID-19 in rural areas,” he added.

Additional Director of Panchayats A. Chelladurai said that while they have identified around 130 village panchayats with more number of cases, Mini COVID-19 Care Centres will initially be set up at 100 village panchayats. Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy inaugurated one such facility at Puliyampatti village of T. Kallupatti block on Thursday.

Members of self-help groups and anganwadi workers were engaged in door-to-door screening to identify residents with Influenza-like-Illness symptoms. They will also collect details of those who had completed their COVID-19 vaccination in each household. Samples will be lifted from the symptomatic persons for RT-PCR test.

Positive people who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic with good vitals will be given treatment at the Mini COVID-19 Care Centres, said Dr. Chandra Mohan. “Since many households in rural areas do not have separate rooms for self-isolation, these centres will be of help to them,” he said.

Manpower

Each mini centre will have a minimum of 10 beds. A trained health worker will be present at the Centre to monitor patients under the supervision of the medical officer of the Primary Health Centre concerned. “If the patient’s severity level increases, the patient will be taken to the bigger treatment centres,” said Dr. Chandra Mohan.

The mini centres also help in reducing the burden on tertiary healthcare centres like Government Rajaji Hospital, said Mr. Chelladurai. All the Mini COVID-19 Care Centres were likely to become functional in the next few days, he added.