THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has requested the Union Government to set up a centralised facility or a field hospital to monitor those who are evacuated from the Hubei province in China, which is the epicentre of the novel coronavirus (nCoV).
Highly placed sources said setting up of the centralised facility was one of the suggestions put forward to the Union Government by Rajan Khobragade, state health principal secretary. "It is not ideal to send people, who are suspected to be infected, to their homes. In that case, they should be monitored in a single isolated facility, ideally at the airport or in a field hospital," said a source.
The field hospital is a mini temporary hospital that is raised at short notice to address serious medical emergencies. The state also proposed to monitor the evacuees for a maximum of 14 days at the isolated facility. "Fourteen days is the maximum incubation period. Usually, five to seven days are enough. Since the issue is a serious one, we don’t want to take any chances," added the source.
The official added that setting up of a centralised facility will be more convenient to the public as well as the health officials. “The Central Government will be in a better position to handle the crisis than letting each state take care of its people,” the official added. Another suggestion was to frame a protocol at the national level to deal with the evacuees.
806 people under surveillance
On Wednesday alone, the state health department put 173 people under surveillance. With this, the total number of people under surveillance in the state has risen to 806. As per a bulletin released by the health department, of the 806 people under surveillance, 796 are under house surveillance and 10 are admitted to the isolation wards of hospitals. On Wednesday, three were admitted.
Practicality of surveillance
At the same time, questions concerning the practicality of screening and putting a large number of people under surveillance were also raised. Citing a World Health Organisation update on nCoV, some public health experts pointed out that as the northern hemisphere and China are in the midst of the winter season, the prevalence of influenza and other respiratory infections must be there. According to them, there must be signs and symptoms suggesting respiratory diseases other than nCoV.
However, Dr V Meenakshi, additional director of Public Health, said that to prevent the entry of any nCov-positive persons into the state, the department will have to adhere to strict surveillance measures and as part of the same people coming to the state from the affected areas with fever and respiratory infections should be put under 28 days surveillance.