CHENNAI: The city corporation is set to reopen some of its Covid care centers as part of precautionary measures to tackle any further spread of Covid-19. Urban Community Health Centres in Injambakkam in Sholinganallur zone and Manjambakkam in Manali are to be converted into care centres.
“We will have 200 beds ready in these two centres and if the need arises we will consider reopening the care centre at Chennai Trade Centre (in Nandambakkam) that can accommodate up to 1,000 patients. Since colleges are all functioning, we will use our own facilities,” said a senior Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) official.
According to officials, screening centres will also be reopened in specific areas. In addition, GCC Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi issued a letter to private hospitals and clinics on Friday to treat Covid-19 patients within hospitals for the quarantine period to prevent cross infection to family members.
“If for inevitable reasons, the patient is to be discharged before the quarantine period, the same should compulsorily be informed to the GCC in advance so that GCC officials can strictly ensure effective home quarantine of the patient,” the letter stated. “The decision to either home quarantine or hospitalise must be taken only by the health department, GCC screening centres or treating hospitals based on government norms and isolation facilities available in the patient’s house.” The GCC also reiterated that private hospitals must report treating those with Covid-like symptoms.
A corporation official told TNIE that areas including Mahalingapuram and Nungambakkam have been seeing a rise in family clusters over the last 15 days. Officials found that doctors were issuing home quarantine certificates without taking into consideration the person’s age and medical history.
“First, we are presented with one Covid-19 positive case from a family. During follow-up, they tell us that their family doctor had recommended home isolation. In three or four days, the rest of the patient’s family test positive,” said an official. “To avoid this, we have written to major hospitals cautioning against awarding home isolation to all patients. Especially for patients over 50, complications can be easily managed when under medical observation,” the official added.