The State government is taking all measures to bring down the mortality rate of COVID-19 cases, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said here on Friday. “But it is essential for the public to come to hospitals in the early stages of the infection to be cured,” the Minister added.
Pointing out that 3.43 lakh COVID-19 patients have been cured in the State, the Minister told reporters here that getting admitted to the hospital at an advanced stage of the disease posed a challenge for doctors. He said around 60,000 to 70,000 swab tests were being done across the State every day. The test results were now being conveyed through SMS and the facility was at present available in Chennai, Salem, Madurai and Pudukottai Government Medical College Hospitals. The procedure of sending the test results through SMS would gradually be extended to all districts.
Replying to a query, the Minister said preliminary works relating to conducting clinical trials of Covishield - a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford was under way at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai. He added that the trials would commence soon and it would be done on healthy individuals above the age of 18 years.
The Minister said Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had sanctioned ₹103.5 crore for acquiring 500 ambulances to augment the fleet of the 108 ambulance service. The Chief Minister would launch the first batch of ambulances numbering 108 on Monday. The remaining ambulances would gradually be sent to all districts to bring COVID-19 positive cases within three hours to the hospital from the time of declaration of result.
Mr. Vijayabaskar said the State government has been working relentlessly to check the spread of viral infection and urged people to follow personal safety measures such as wearing mask, ensure personal distancing and frequent hand washing. People with mild symptoms such as fever, cough or body pain should immediately subject themselves to COVID-19 test without any hesitation, he said.