Government Medical College in Ernakulam to become Kerala’s first coronavirus treatment centre

Nearly 90% of the patients under treatment have either been shifted to other hospitals or discharged

Patients being shifted from Government Medical College in Ernakulam to other hospitals.

The Government Medical College in Ernakulam, a 500-bed facility, is being converted into the State’s first COVID-19 treatment centre.

On Sunday, the hospital authorities started shifting patients to other hospitals. Nearly 90% of the patients have either been shifted or discharged, and only the seriously-ill patients remain at the hospital. They will be shifted once their treatment in other hospitals are ensured.

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The wards at GMC in Ernakulam are being cleaned.

As most of the COVID-19 positive cases are reported at the airport here and brought to the hospital, it was decided to convert the hospital into a treatment centre. Besides, the possibility of risk to other patients in the hospital increased with more cases getting admitted in the isolation ward.

Ernakulam District Collector had invoked Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 to convert the hospital into a treatment centre.

The dialysis unit and emergency OP alone would function at GMC.