Officials play down MP’s call for boosting rural health infra

Coimbatore: MP P R Natarajan on Tuesday urged district collector K Rajamani to ramp up medical infrastructure in rural areas to test people for Covid-19 and treat positive cases in their own areas.
Health department officials, however, said adequate facilities were already in place in rural areas to treat Covid-19 patients. Pointing out that only 10% to 15% of the total cases in the district were from the rural areas, they said they were managing them in those areas itself.
The CPM MP said people from across the district had to now come to the ESI Hospital in the city for testing. “This has led people to crowd the hospital. They give samples for testing and wait at the hospital. Residents in the vicinity are concerned over local transmission of the virus. Heavy vehicular traffic in the area is also causing trouble.”
He said people, who were tested positive for the virus from rural areas, had to be brought to the city for treatment either in the ESI Hospital or in the Covid care centre at Codissia trade fair complex and the waiting time for the same was causing them mental stress. “Facilities to test and treat Covid-19 patients should be set up in taluk levels.”
On their part, health department officials said there were dedicated Covid-19 treatment centres in rural areas such as Mettupalayam, Pollachi, Bilichi and Annur.
Dr G Ramesh Kumar, deputy director of health services, said while they were bringing samples collected from rural areas to the ESI Hospital in the city for testing, those tested positive were admitted to Covid care centres in rural areas itself. “We have 43 patients with mild symptoms in the Hindustan Hospital in Mettupalayam and 45 in the Pollachi government hospital.”
He said the government hospital at Mettupalayam and Covid care centres at the Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School and NM Home in Pollachi, Sasurie Engineering College near Annur and another college at Bilichi near Perianaicken Palayam were ready to house Covid-19 patients from rural areas.
“We have been admitting only symptomatic patients from the city limits in the ESI Hospital and Codissia care centre. Those from rural areas are admitted to the facilities in their nearby areas. We have also been admitting patients from Madukkarai to the Pollachi government hospital,” the official said.