Health authorities worried as scores of Tamil Nadu patients visit Puducherry hospital

PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao on Tuesday expressed concern over the large number of patients from neighbouring Tamil Nadu visiting the OPD in Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital for minor ailments.

Briefing newsmen, Rao said after the relaxation of the lockdown, 1532 patients came to the OPD of the hospital on Monday of which 172 are from Tamil Nadu. Almost all came with minor ailments, he said, adding that in the last 19 days prior to the lockdown relaxation, only 397 patients turned up at the hospital.

Rao said doctors informed him that this is not safe and could lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases in Puducherry where the spread of the virus has been controlled. Many of these patients are from the red zones of Villupuram and Cuddalore.

Following this, he requested the Chief Minister to convene a full-fledged cabinet meeting and take a decision to continue the lockdown without relaxation till May 3 like in several other states. He said that even if no decision was taken, the people of Puducherry should co-operate and desist from visiting hospitals for minor ailments.

Rao said that for the last 15 days, health department staff and others are conducting a door to door survey and testing people for COVID-19 symptoms. So far, 241726 families (9,17,153 people) were covered and the survey will be completed in a couple of days.

The minister also said that he got in touch with central government officials and apprised them about the difficulties Puducherry is facing and they assured maximum help. He said there are only three COVID-19 cases in Puducherry at the moment and if residents gave their cooperation for another ten days, this status could be maintained.

10,000 rapid testing kits have arrived in Puducherry but they will not be used for two days on the instructions of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), he added.