THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Suspected Covid-19 patients violating home quarantine norms and getting involved in road accidents are becoming a menace at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital. In the past week, five accident cases involving home-quarantined suspected Covid-19 patients were admitted at the casualty ward of the hospital.
“Last week, one patient was brought in and around 41 people, including 19 doctors, were exposed to this suspected coronavirus patient. We had to quarantine all of them. Luckily, the patient tested negative and we have recalled our staff. The next day, another patient came and we had to send 12 people to quarantine,” said an official of MCH.
A recent accident case attended by the MCH involved a suspected home-quarantined patient who arrived from Bahrain.“Luckily, only one doctor came in contact with the person. Initially, he was reluctant to divulge his details. When people behave irresponsibly, our resources and manpower are wasted. Doctors and nurses are required to wear protective gear, which is scarce. The government purchased the same spending huge sums, anticipating the emergency,” said a MCH official.
According to officials, though patients coming to the OP have dwindled to one-third, there is no decline in the number of cases coming to the MCH casualty. An average of 800 to 850 cases come to the MCH emergency section everyday.
Help desk to screen history
In the wake of an increase in the number of such cases, the authorities have set up a casualty help desk to screen the history of the patients arriving.”We have started a special desk at the casualty to screen patients. They will have to fill a questionnaire. Also, we have allotted a designated space in the casualty to treat such patients,” said the official.
According to them, this is becoming a threat to the existing resources at the hospitals including doctors who are preparing to contain a mass spread of Covid-19 in the coming days. “Several people in home quarantine continue to walk around, violating norms. They were exposed solely because they met with road accidents,” said the official. In-patients at the MCH have come down by 50 to 55 per cent since the outbreak. “We have to be prepared for the worst and the government has given directions to procure more ventilators, other life-saving equipment and isolation wards,” the official added. As part of Plan A of the government, MCH has earmarked around 49 isolation rooms, which would be raised to 80 when Plan B gets activated. The number of beds will be raised to 216.