CHANDIGARH: With a decrease in positivity rate, 80.2% of the adults with antibodies against Covid as per a sero survey and 100% first dosage, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, has decided to start its in-person OPDs from September 20 (Monday).
A meeting was held on Friday under the chairmanship of GMCH director-principal Dr Jaswinder Kaur. It was unanimously decided all OPDs will start functioning physically with offline as well as online registration from Monday. Telemedicine and e-Sanjeevani facility will continue. “We had been seeing a decline in the positivity rate. So, we decided to finally open the physical OPDs for patient care. As soon as we will have an increase in the Covid cases, we shall halt the physical OPDs,” said Dr Jaswinder.
There were around 6000 patients who had been visiting the physical OPDs daily, but due to the pandemic, the numbers were reduced. “Not everyone could easily register online and see a doctor. With the resumption of the physical OPDs, we shall be able to easily consult a doctor,” said Kamalpreet Singh, a resident of Karnal.
Government Multi-specialty Hospital, Sector 16, has been seeing patients in its usual physical OPDs, however, the PGI, the main referral hospital of the region, is still functioning through telemedicine. Also, the GMCH which has started the sero survey in adult population in July, completed it on Friday.
Survey: 80% have antibodies against Covid
The results of the study revealed the presence of IgG antibodies against SARS CoV-2 in 80.2% of the adult population of Chandigarh. Around 1,200 samples were collected from the vaccinated and non-vaccinated adult population of Chandigarh. The participants were enrolled from 30 randomly selected clusters. Out of these,16 were from urban areas, 11 from rehabilitation colonies and three from rural areas. Sero positivity was found in 84.1% urban, 77.8% rehabilitation colonies and 69% rural representative population. Presence of antibodies suggests past infection or response to vaccination. “The outcome of the sero-survey is encouraging but this should not lead to complacency. The possibility of new outbreaks is there and one should follow Covid protocol.” said the director-principal.
