In two weeks, all government medical college hospitals in the State will communicate COVID-19 test results through SMS in 24 to 36 hours. Work for uploading the software to facilitate this system is on in full swing, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said.
After hospitals in Madurai and Salem, the facility was launched at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), Chennai on Wednesday. Launching the automated system at RGGGH, the Minister said through this, the test results -- whether positive or negative for COVID-19 -- would be communicated to the people through SMS, and those who have tested positive can approach hospitals.
“Nearly 90% of the tests are being done in government laboratories. Till now, we have tested a total of 43,46,861 samples through 141 laboratories in the State. At RGGGH, 1,91,000 samples have been tested till now. As of now, people have to come to the facility for giving their swabs for testing, and later, to collect the result. This system will change that,” he said.
At RGGGH, a total of 18,000 persons, who had tested positive for COVID-19, have recovered, he said, adding: “The hospital has a recovery rate of 85%. It has established a zero-delay COVID-19 ward and a pre-arrival intimation system. A total of 12,500 persons have utilised the services of the zero-delay ward.” A total of 174 patients have undergone convalescent plasma therapy at RGGGH.
Noting that Chennai has a population of nearly 85 lakh, he said that COVID-19 cases were under control in the city. While measures for controlling disease transmission were being taken, the livelihood of people was also important and should not be affected, he noted. “We cannot do anything without public cooperation. People should wear masks, maintain physical distancing and follow hand washing,” he said.
To a question on deaths due to COVID-19 in private hospitals, he said that private hospitals were advised to follow treatment protocols followed by government hospitals. “They should be well-equipped with oxygen facilities, ventilators and adequate manpower. They should initiate treatment early and should not refer patients late to government hospitals,” he said.
The Minister said that among the overall fatalities, less than 10% of deaths were due to COVID-19, and the government was taking continuous efforts to further reduce the deaths.
He said that playback singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam was on ECMO support and his clinical condition was stable, while Member of Parliament H. Vasanthakumar was on a ventilator and was responding to drugs. Among others, Director of Medical Education R. Narayana Babu and RGGGH dean E. Theranirajan were present.