Tamil Nadu has placed orders for 1 lakh rapid test kits for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) through the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC), according to Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar.
“We already have 17 testing facilities in Tamil Nadu -- 11 in the government sector and six in the private sector. The government is aiming at creating one testing facility in every district. We have taken up work for expansion by providing RT-PCR (Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction) equipment for other districts as well. As per the Chief Minister’s instructions on rapid testing, we have placed orders for 1 lakh rapid test kits through TNMSC,” he told reporters on Saturday. The aim is to speed up testing, he said.
The Minister along with C. Sylendra Babu, Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services, inspected disinfection works carried out at Government Royapettah Hospital.
While government hospitals have been notified as COVID-19 hospitals, he said private hospitals were asked to come forward and reserve 25% of their beds for isolation facilities. Accordingly, Sri Ramachandra Medical College has come forward to set up a facility with 1,500 beds, MIOT Hospital has volunteered to set up 500-bed facility in a separate block, and Saveetha Medical College Hospital has also come forward to establish such a facility, the Minister said.
A Government Order has been issued with a list of private hospitals that are approved by the government to have COVID-19 management facilities in each district, he added.
TV in isolation wards
The Minister said that television sets were being installed television sets in the isolation wards to keep patients engaged and motivated. The patients can watch entertainment channels in these wards. Nutritious food was provided five times a day for patients.
Dr. Vijayabaskar said the Fire and Rescue Services were taking up massive disinfection measures in public places, and at government hospitals where COVID-19 patients were admitted. The Service was utilising the 150-feet-high sky lift for disinfection.
The Fire and Rescue Services was taking up disinfection measures in about 4,500 places in the State on a war-footing. “When done manually, it may require more workers and take a long time. But they are covering the entire campus in one or two hours,” he said.
