Kerala: Free WiFi, food, 24X7 doctors at care centres

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To contain the spread and manage the people during the period of incubation, the state health department has issued an elaborate advisory to be followed at the Covid care centres where the NRKs will be admitted straight from the airports.
"The main objective is to provide proper quarantine and prevent the spread of disease transmission, and then successful isolation and management of asymptomatic cases. Hence, all the people being brought here will be screened before they reach here. A doctor of the nearby public healthcare institution will be available if an inmate becomes symptomatic," said Dr Amar Fettle, state nodal officer for public health emergencies.
Health care volunteers appointed at the Covid care centres will maintain a list of medicines that persons with other co-morbidities admitted here are routinely taking. They will also ensure the supply of these drugs from nearby healthcare institutions and will also inform the respective local body. The LSGs should arrange the medicines if it is not available at the healthcare centre.
"Every three days the availability of the drugs will be verified. It has been decided that people with fever, cough, sore throat, dyspnoea and diarrhoea, should not be admitted at the CCC. All inmates will be sensitized about personal hygiene, environmental hygiene and physical distancing," said Dr Fettle.
If there is spread of the disease to all inmates in a particular CCC, then this centre would be entirely converted into a healthcare institution without even moving the inmates.
"As per the advisory, in centres less than 50 beds, there will a doctor available on call and a junior health inspector apart from the trained volunteers," said Dr G S Vijayakrishnan, state secretary of Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA).
Similarly, at the centre with more than 50 beds there will be two doctors on call, two junior health inspectors and four trained volunteers. Four or more doctors at centres above 100 beds and six or more doctors in centres over 200 beds have been deployed.
All centres will have independent rooms with toilet facility, power, wifi connectivity, food and drinking water facility provided by the local bodies, and security to ensure safety of the isolated people. No guests will be allowed inside the centres and none of the relatives will be allowed to meet the NRKs.
In the firstline Covid-19 treatment centres, eight doctors on rotation has been deployed. In addition to this 12 staff nurses, three pharmacists, ten cleaning staff and six health care volunteers have been deployed. The firstline treatment centres will have a bed strength of 10 to 25. It has also been directed to stock 42 different drugs on emergency at this treatment centres.