Panaji: With a sudden surge in the dreaded coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in India, the state government has beefed up its preparedness to combat the disease in case a positive case is detected in Goa.
The state taskforce, set up to monitor COVID-19, held its meeting on Wednesday following which the major private facilities in the state have been asked by the government to identify isolation wards.
The government has also asked the private facilities and Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim to explore the possibility of starting a separate Out Patient Department (OPD) specifically for the foreign nationals, who visit the hospitals for different types of treatment.
The meeting was chaired by Chief Secretary Parimal Rai and attended by officials of the Captain of Ports, tourism department, education department, women and child development department and the Goa branch of Indian Medical Association.
“The major private hospitals were asked to identify isolation wards, even if they are not going to keep anyone; it’s better we prepare ourselves so as to avoid the chaotic situation, if at all we get a cluster of COVID-19 cases,†said state epidemiologist Dr Utkarsh Betodkar.
The epidemiologist said that in the present scenario, Goa is well prepared to tackle the virus and added that currently the isolation for symptomatic patients is only in GMC. He said isolation of the asymptomatic patients will be done at the Cottage Hospital in Chicalim.
“We have other places like the TB Hospital in Margao and CHC Sankhali where isolation facility would be set up. Directorate of Health Services will be also identifying beds in all the state-run hospitals,†he said.