Tamil Nadu is gearing up to handle a possible 50% jump in its active caseload before the end of this month.
According to the projection prepared by the State’s Medical and Family Welfare Department for an internal discussion, the number of active cases may go up from 1.72 lakh at the moment to over 2.5 lakh.
With the daily medical bulletin indicating that 92% of all oxygen-supported and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds are occupied with the present caseload, despite a steady increase in the State’s bed capacity, the jump will need a significant ramping up of capacity and deployment of alternative strategies.
“We are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. The present lockdown can help break the chain of transmission and bring down cases, with proper cooperation from the people,” a senior official said.
As part of measures with the primary objective to reduce the number of fatalities due to the infection, Collectors have been asked to take full control of the district-level Unified Command Centres and deploy all possible resources for the effective allocation of beds and transportation of patients to hospitals.
Another top official from the department said instructions had been given to them to immediately implement at all levels the revised triaging and treatment protocol released on Monday. “The idea is to treat as many people as possible outside COVID-19 hospitals, without compromising on care,” the official said.
He said similar to the revised treatment protocol, another protocol to optimise oxygen utilisation was also being prepared to meet the increasing demand.
“Meanwhile, feedback has been received on the revised treatment protocol, which is being studied to examine the need for further revision. It is, however, important to keep in mind that the protocol is only for 14 days to manage the crisis situation,” the official added.
All primary health centres, taluk hospitals and district headquarters hospitals that have not been treating COVID-19 patients so far have also been asked to ready themselves for treating the infected.
The department has also stressed the need for more focus on strengthening community engagement, with additional deployment of staff to screen, refer and conduct follow-ups on the patients at risk.
