As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, the district administration has begun the process of identifying hostels in government and private colleges that can be converted into care centres.
Since April, fresh cases have been on the rise in Tiruchi district. On an average, it reports between 150 to 200 cases daily. The discharge of patients, who were tested positive for the virus, hovers around 100 a day. As of Monday, 1,360 patients are under treatment for the infection.
As a strategy to bring as many asymptomatic patients into the fold of treatment so as to prevent the spread of the virus, the district administration has ramped up collection of swab samples to 4,000 a day.
As on Tuesday, there are 450 beds at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) in Tiruchi and 60 at Government Hospital in Manapparai. In addition to them, Government College of Engineering at Sethurapatti on Tiruchi-Madurai Highway and Khajamalai campus of Bharathidasan University have been converted into care centres. About 800 beds have been made available to patients with mild symptoms. As a precautionary measure, the district administration has decided to create 2,000 more beds in the district.
The available beds at MGMGH and other COVID care centres are sufficient to accommodate the patients, Collector S. Divyadharshini, who held a meeting with the health and revenue officials on Tuesday, told The Hindu.
More beds will be needed if the cases go up further. Hence, it has been decided to increase the number of beds to 4,000. Health and revenue officials have been asked to visit private and government colleges to study availability of beds in their hostels, she said.
Institutions in Thuraiyur, Manapparai, Thottiyam and Musiri will be identified for the purpose. Basic facilities will be created in the new care centres. It will facilitate treatment of patients in their surroundings instead of coming to Tiruchi.
“Some patients prefer home treatment. However, if they come to GH or COVID care centres, the chances of spreading the virus to their family members and neighbours will be limited. Hence, we ask them to get treated at the centres,” Ms. Divyadharshini added.
