THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The resurgence of Covid-19 and the climbing test positivity rate are raising concern about the preparedness of the district in managing a possible surge of cases. Lack of dedicated Covid care hospitals, inadequate resources and infrastructure are some of the major challenges before the authorities right now as testing, vaccination, isolation and treatment are the only strategies to contain the aggressive second wave.
As part of the containment strategy, Thiruvananthapuram district will conduct 22,600 RT-PCR tests in the coming two days and as per the current infection rate, an average of 1,500 to 2,000 fresh cases are expected to be detected. Since setting up of Covid First Line Treatment Centres, due to the lack of doctors is difficult, they (CFLTC) are planning to set up more domiciliary care centres. The number of containment zones are also increasing day by day. On Thursday, mass vaccination centres were shut down following the unavailability of vaccines and scores of beneficiaries had to return without getting the jab.
District panchayat president and district disaster management authority chairman (DDMA) D Suresh Kumar said the district was well prepared to handle the surge. “We are planning to micro-manage the cases by focusing more on home isolation. If the cases cross the 10,000-mark, we will be setting up domiciliary care centres in schools under the jurisdiction of the district panchayat. We will make all necessary arrangements to manage the surge,” said Suresh Kumar.
According to the authorities, now it’s impossible to compromise, treatment for non-covid patients and the machinery will have to manage more testing, mass vaccination drives and Covid care simultaneously.
District Medical Officer (DMO) Dr K S Shinu told TNIE that the district could not set up dedicated Covid care hospitals to manage the second wave. Earlier, the General Hospital at Thiruvananthapuram was a dedicated covid care hospital treating category B patients. He said that the district would intensify testing in the next 24 hours to isolate the maximum number of cases and curb the spread of the pandemic.
“Our plan is to set up infrastructure at places where the test positivity rate is high or above 15. The local self government will have to make arrangements and hire paramedical staff or staff nurses to manage the patients. We have given direction to private and public health care institutions to set aside 10 per cent of the total bed strength for Covid care and ensure facilities for uninterrupted oxygen supply for Covid-19 patients,” said Dr Shinu. The district health authorities are planning for a decentralised mode of patient management to ensure uninterrupted non-covid care management in the district.
“There is no need to treat patients from Neyyattinkara at the general hospital. The taluk hospitals would also be equipped to manage the case loads from their locality and avoid concentration of patients at a particular hospital. As of now, we can’t plan for a dedicated Covid-19 care hospital in the district,” Dr Shinu added.