NEW DELHI: Patients exhibiting major symptoms of Covid-19 but not confirmed to have the infection are being admitted to dedicated facilities but their treatment is done in a segregated zone until their test results come out, doctors have said. Initially, there were reports that dedicated facilities were allegedly not allowing suspected Covid-19 patients but later the government asked hospitals to attend to them as well.
From LNJP, the first Delhi government-run hospital to be declared a dedicated COVID- 19 facility, to GTB Hospital in east Delhi, serious suspected patients are immediately wheeled into an ICU.
However, the suspected coronavirus patients are kept in a separate ward seat from the main Covid-19 ward as they may or may not have the infection, Medical Director, LNJP Hospital, Dr Suresh Kumar said.
“The moment a serious patient with symptoms is brought into our facility, he or she is immediately taken into the ICU for oxygen support or ventilator support as needed, even if the case is not confirmed,” he said.
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“We run a test on these suspected patients and keep them in that separate area till the results come out. If they come out as Covid positive, we move them to corona ward and if negative, we try to stabilise them so they can be shifted to non-Covid facilities,” he said.
Authorities in other hospitals of the national capital are following the same protocol at other city government-run facilities, the GTB Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, both in east Delhi.
“Our hospital is old, so we have ICUs divided into separate rooms, some with six beds, others with nine. And we ensure the suspected patients, whether in wards or ICU, are segregated from the main ward so they don’t run the risk of contracting infection from COVID patients,” GTB Hospital Medical Director Dr Rajesh Rautela said.
Ensuring no delay in patients treatment
Seeking to reduce Covid deaths, authorities had directed dedicated hospitals to ensure there is “absolutely
no delay” in transferring a serious patient from triage area to an ICU. Suspected patients who are in serious condition are to be given immediate medical attention as required