Treat without waiting for COVID-19 RT-PCR results: Tamil Nadu's Directorate of Public Health

All the patients approaching screening centres or interim COVID Care Centres need not be subjected to RT-PCR testing as all the syndromic cases are considered as COVID cases unless otherwise proved.
For representational purposes
For representational purposes

CHENNAI:  The Directorate of Public Health (DPH) has released guidelines for syndromic approach for COVID-19 treatment as the cases are spike and all Covid beds are running full at hospitals. The DPH has instructed hospitals to commence treatment for patients without waiting for their RT-PCR test reports. 

All the patients approaching screening centres or interim COVID Care Centres need not be subjected to RT-PCR testing as all the syndromic cases are considered as COVID cases unless otherwise proved, the DPH said in the guidelines. 

The guidelines issued by the Director of Public Health Dr TS Selvavinayagam said that Chennai Corporation and other local bodies concerned should engage health workers, trained volunteers, self help groups or NGOs, for house-to-house screening twice a day.

One person should be in charge of 100 houses. The person must refer suspect or COVID patients to the nearest screening centres or interim COVID Care Centres for categorisation of cases based on severity.

A person with onset of symptoms like myalgia, fatigue, fever, sore throat, breathlessness, cough, diarrhea, headache, loss of smell or loss of taste, within the last 10 days should be considered as suspected COVID. 

Based on the symptoms the healthworker will check saturation, respiratory rate, get the patient’s medical history for any comorbidities, and refer him or her to screening centres, the Directorate of Public Health guidelines added.

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