THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: District Collector Navjot Khosa said on Wednesday that there were lapses on the part of General Hospital and Government Medical College Hospital for delaying Covid tests of Rameshan of Vanchiyoor who succumbed to Covid. His test was done only after his death. The patient was under treatment at General Hospital and later sent to Government Medical College for treating respiratory illness. However, both hospitals did not forward his case for a test despite the symptoms.
The delay had created controversy after his death and the district collector had sought a report from the hospitals. While addressing the media here, the collector said she will forward the report to the health secretary for further action. The family of Rameshan had raised the issue after his death. His relatives alleged that despite Rameshan being a regular patient at General Hospital who was treated at the hospital twice in May- June period with Covid symptoms, his test was not done.
The Vanchiyoor native was admitted to General Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram from May 23 with respiratory issues. He was discharged on May 28 and despite his condition, no test was done during the period. Almost two weeks later, on June 10, he was brought to General Hospital again. Late in the night, he was referred to Medical College where he was under treatment till June 11 noon.
On June 12, the patient passed away, reportedly brought dead to the General Hospital. His swab sample was collected and the result came out positive on June 15. The General Hospital authorities maintained that the test was not done at first because the patient had a history of respiratory disease and was a regular patient in the hospital. “We had sent him to Government Medical College because of the symptoms,” said a representative of General Hospital.
However, Rameshan’s family maintained that they were not informed about his condition. In Medical College, the patient underwent treatment for only a few hours and was discharged once his wheezing went down. He died next day.
War room opened in collectorate
T’Puram: A district-level war room has been set up in the Thiruvananthapuram collectorate to coordinate the Covid-19 containment efforts in the wake of increasing cases of local transmission. The war room will be functional round the clock with the help of experts. The decision was announced by district collector Navjot Khosa here on Wednesday. As a first step in strengthening the containment efforts, more tests will be done on taluk basis. All doctors under the health department will be given further training with regard to handling of Covid scenario.
“We will also have seven ambulances which will function as mobile swab collection units. They will collect swabs from containment zones and regions that need special attention. At present there are two such labs,” said the collector. She also said that in cases where symptoms of Covid are seen, the first consultation should be done through phone in all possible cases. The control room in collectorate will help such people. 1077 is the control room number.
Four expatriates test positive for Covid
T’Puram: Four expatriates, including three from the Gulf, tested positive for Covid in the district on Wednesday. A 33-year-old Pulluvila native returned from Qatar on June 20 while a 41-year-old Pallikkal native from Kuwait and a 52-year-old Navayikkulam native Riyadh arrived on June 13. The other person to test positive is a 67-year-old Tirunelveli native who came from Nigeria on June 18. As many as 1,141 people were put under observation on the day. A total of 171 people are under hospital isolation while 21,209 people are under home quaran-tine. On Wednesday, 33 people were admitted to hospital and 35 discharged. A total of 355 results received were negative.