‘Royapettah govt hospital not for Covid treatment’

CHENNAI: Following complaints of Government Royapettah Hospital not admitting Covid-19 positive patients, the authorities have clarified that the hospital was not designated for Covid treatment, and it was catering to non-Covid cases ever since the pandemic broke out.

The patient count in the hospital has doubled during the lockdown as most non-Covid cases were being referred here, the hospital management said. “Our daily in-patient and out-patient count before the outbreak were around 150 and 600. Now it has gone up to around 250 to 1,200 respectively,” said the GH Director and Medical Superintendent, Dr R Mani.

“We are also treating suspected Covid-19 cases in a separate ward. We have a Covid-19 screening OP and a testing facility. At least 50 samples are lifted at the hospital daily,” the Director added. Around 3,000 samples were tested at the Royapettah GH in the last three months, and out of them 10 to 20 per cent turned out positive. “If they test positive, we refer the patients to designated Covid treatment hospitals,” Dr Mani added. Many patients were even brought dead to the hospital, another senior doctor at the hospital said. “When we receive such cases, we won’t release the body till the Covid test results come,” he added.