With cases of COVID-19 increasing in the southern districts, government doctors who were sent on deputation to Chennai are returning to their workplaces in districts like Madurai, Virudhunagar, Theni and Thoothukudi.
Health Department officials said about 1,300 doctors of the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services were earlier deputed from various districts to Chennai to manage the case surge in the city. However, in the past few weeks, the number of cases has been on the rise in many northern and southern districts.
In the past week alone, Madurai added nearly 1,300 cases, while Virudhunagar added a little over 2,000 cases. Thoothukudi saw nearly 1,700 cases, and Theni 1,000.
“Now, Chennai is witnessing a downward trend in cases. This has given us some breathing space as there are more discharges than admissions. However, the number of COVID-19 patients is rising in districts like Madurai, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli. So, we cancelled the diversion of about one-fourth of the doctors deputed from the districts to Chennai, and they are returning to their original stations,” a Health Department official said.
He added that the doctors on deputation to Chennai would return to their original posts in phases.
In the meantime, the bed capacity at government medical college hospitals in other parts of the State was being strengthened and necessary drugs like remdesivir, tocilizumab and low molecular weight heparin were being supplied.
“The lessons learnt in Chennai are helping us manage the situation in the affected districts. We have been gradually increasing the number of beds for COVID-19 treatment at hospitals as the general patient population is less. All are aware of the protocol that hospitals are [meant to follow] for treating moderate/severe cases, while those with mild symptoms can be accommodated at COVID-19 Care Centres (CCC). The CCCs are being readied in all districts,” he said.
Apart from 25 government medical college hospitals in the State, 16 government facilities, including peripheral hospitals, provide COVID-19 treatment. “In all 41 facilities, we have a total of 16,399 beds. At present, 8,838 beds are occupied, while the remaining 7,561 are vacant. There are a total of 9,631 oxygen beds, of which 3,600 are currently occupied,” he said.
The official said sufficient beds were available at government facilities, and there were more number of reserve beds as well.
