As COVID-19 cases are registering an upward trend over the past few days, the health authorities have stepped up preventive measures and strengthened the infrastructure for treating patients.
Fresh cases began to increase from the second week of June in the district. It registers an average of five to seven cases a day. Eight patients tested positive for the virus in the district on Friday. With this, the number of patients, who are under treatment for COVID-19, has gone up to 34.
A woman doctor of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) is among the patients under the treatment. She was said to have developed COVID-19 symptoms three days ago and subjected herself to the RT-PCR test. The results subsequently turned out to be positive and she opted for home treatment.
The number is expected to rise further in the days to come as there is no curb on the movement of passengers from other districts that have reported a surge in the number of fresh cases over the past 10 days. Poor compliance of COVID-19 protocol such as wearing masks and hand sanitisation by the travelling public is said to have caused the rise in the number of fresh cases. Health authorities expect that the daily cases in Tiruchi district will touch the double digit mark soon.
They say that there is no cause for concern as the patients do not require hospitalisation. Most of them have mild symptom and they get cured within three to five days of treatment. However, they say that the situation and the behaviour of the virus were being closely monitored.
To tackle the situation, the health authorities have begun to step up treatment infrastructure. The testing of samples has also gone up.
“We are prepared to face any eventualities. A special ward for treating COVID-19 has been established with uninterrupted oxygen supply,” says D. Nehru, Dean, K.A.P. Viswnatham Government Medical College, Tiruchi.
He told The Hindu that there was no in-patient in the COVID-19 special ward as on Saturday.However, a contingency plan had been prepared to deal with the situation if there was a surge in fresh cases. The MGMGH had 1,600 beds. All of them had oxygen supply. More beds could be earmarked for COVID-19 patients at any time.
Dr. Nehru said that the MGMGH had a capacity to store 21 KL oxygen. There was no shortage of oxygen. The mechanism of refilling oxygen had also been strengthened. The hospital had sufficient fund to purchase any material and equipment both for prevention and treatment. If needed, the funds under the Emergency COVID Response Plan-II could also be received at any time.
The Dean said that the MGMGH had the capacity to test 4,000 to 6,000 samples a day. As of Saturday, about 500 samples were being tested a day.
