A day after Karnataka allowed entry of medical emergency cases from the neighbouring Kasaragod district of Kerala through Talapady on NH 66 following the Supreme Court intervention, three Kerala government ambulances with patients entered Dakshina Kannada on Wednesday.
The district administration that had already deployed a medical team to screen the crew of goods vehicles entering Karnataka from Kerala in two shifts has augmented the system by adding another team for an additional shift. The team of a medical doctor and a paramedic from the Health Department was being assisted by the police to screen the crew of incoming vehicles when The Hindu visited Talapady on Wednesday morning.
District Health Officer Ramachandra Bairy said the Health Department was adhering to the directions of the district administration. Besides primary checking of documents, the medical team would also check the patient for symptoms of fever or respiratory illness. Such cases would not be allowed entry as per the government direction, a team member said.
Personnel at Talapady check-post, led by an Inspector of Police, said three government ambulances ferrying emergency patients with certification from government medical officers of Kasaragod arrived late on Wednesday.
Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B. Rupesh, in an order on Tuesday evening, said patients in need of emergency medical treatment and road accident victims would be allowed to enter Dakshina Kannada through Kerala government ambulances via Talapady. Government medical officers of Kasaragod had to certify that the patient was non-COVID-19 and the particular treatment was not available in Kasaragod.
The ambulance should have only the patient, one attendant, and one paramedic, along with the driver.
Admission only at K.S. Hegde Hospital, says DC
Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B. Rupesh said on Wednesday that patients from Kerala, who required emergency treatment in Mangaluru, will be allowed to be admitted only at K.S. Hegde Medical College Hospital in Deralakatte.
Ambulances with such patients entering Dakshina Kannada through Talapady should take them to Deralakatte, on the outskirts of the city, without coming to Mangaluru city, the District Magistrate said in a release.
