The Health Department seems to have embarked on a massive infrastructure upgradation mission in order to be prepared to treat all patients who test positive for COVID-19. Much of the effort is dedicated towards converting existing hospital infrastructure into special COVID-19 centres, aided by the fact that the number of both outpatients and inpatients in government hospitals has come down drastically.
Following the declaration of the Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital in Omandurar as a COVID-19 hospital, announcements have been made to convert the ESI Hospital in Coimbatore into a specialised unit. The IRT Hospital in Perundurai, which has already dedicated some beds towards the purpose, will also be turned into a dedicated unit to treat COVID-19 soon. One patient was admitted to the Omandurar hospital and tested positive after showing symptoms at the outpatient unit there.
Meanwhile, at Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, in the new CRRI quarters that contain individual rooms with wash units, a 200-bed unit will be set up, with cots and oxygen pipelines. This will be completed in a couple of days, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said.
At the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, another 200-bed exclusive COVID-19 unit had been set up, with about 100 ventilators. In collaboration with Sastra University, ventilator splitters that will help support four patients had been installed, Dr. Vijayabaskar said.
Orders have been placed for five lakh N95 masks from China through the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation, he added. “It has been relatively easy to do this, because our OP (outpatient) attendance has dropped to a fourth of the usual figure and the number of IPs (inpatients) has also come down,” the Minister explained.
