District Collector V. Vishnu has created a triaging point at Gandhimathi School near Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital to screen and segregate COVID-19 patients based on their health condition on arrival.
“If patients arriving here are asymptomatic and stable, they will be given COVID-19 kit having vitamin tablets, zinc tablets and kabasura kudineer packets and sent for home quarantine. If they have mild symptoms, they will be taken in vehicles stationed here to the COVID Care Centres being manned by team of qualified doctors and nurses. If they are in need of oxygen, then they will be admitted to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital across the road for appropriate treatment,” said Mr. Vishnu after inaugurating the triaging point, which will also act as COVID Care Centre, where a team of doctors and nurses have been posted.
The purpose behind opening this triaging point is to avoid crowding in Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital and reduce the turnaround time for screening the patient within the shortest possible time and to take the right decision about the line of treatment – Green (asymptomatic and home quarantine), Yellow (mild symptoms and COVID Care Centre) and Red (critical cases in need of oxygen and hence admission in Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital) - to be given to a particular patient.
For this triage point, the influenza-like illness outpatients section has been shifted to the Gandhimathi School.
The Collector said the district administration had already established COVID Care Centres at Sivananda Hospital, Pattamadai, Government Siddha Medical College in Palayamkottai and the Primary Health Centre at Koodankulam and the COVID Care Centre with 100 beds at Gandhimathi School would be the fourth one.
“If need arises, we’re ready to create COVID Care Centres at SCAD Engineering College, Cheranmahadevi, FX Polytechnic College, Tharuvai and Beedi Workers’ Hospital at Mukkoodal,” Mr. Vishnu said.
The Collector also informed that the online updation of details could be accessed by the personnel manning the 24 X 7 COVID Control Centre functioning in the Collectorate so that they would be in touch with the patient’s family to keep a tab on the health status of the patient at the TVMCH or at the COVID Care Centre.
He said 800 of the 1,240 beds in the TVMCH and 450 beds in private hospitals had oxygen facility and steps have been taken to increase it further. Apart from this, oxygen facility would be available in the COVID Care Centre at Gandhimathi School, Koodankulam Government Hospital and the Primary Health Centres in Munanjipatti, Panagudi and Valliyoor.
Mr. Vishnu asserted that there was no scarcity of oxygen in TVMCH which had two dedicated tanks with the cumulative capacity of 19 KL. Since patients from nearby Thoothukudi, Tenkasi and Virudhunagar districts were also being brought to TVMCH, demand for oxygen was going up and hence steps have been taken to tide over this problem.
On the new lockdown norms coming into force from Thursday (May 6), the Collector said there would be no laxity or leniency in enforcement of law.
“In the Corporation limits, a team, comprising police, corporation and revenue personnel, will be deployed to monitor every five wards for violations. Hence, 11 teams will be on the move to monitor all 55 wards of Tirunelveli Corporation. Enforcement will be done without any compromise and hence people should cooperate or else, violators will have to face the music,” Mr. Vishnu said.
The Collector assured that there would be no dearth for food supply to the patients or their attendants and informed that steps had been taken to increase the number of tests to 3,500 per day.
