Overcrowding of attendants at hospitals for COVID-19 patients has now become a concern for health officials as they have now become common carriers of the infection, experts claimed.
Chennai: Health officials stated that with the relaxation of the lockdown, scores of relatives have been frequenting coronavirus wards in government hospitals to check on their family members and loved ones, putting themselves at risk.
At the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) that treats the highest number of virus cases in the city, there are a lot of anxious attendants of COVID patients and suspected cases thronging the ward, said the doctors there.
“The attendants crowd outside the hospital, within premises of the COVID-19 ward or near the emergency out of anxiety. In case of very critical cases, we allow close visitors with a PPE kit to see the patient on humanitarian grounds. However, no one is generally allowed but people fail to understand,” said Dr E Theranirajan, dean, RGGGH. Despite strict instructions and other arrangements in place to get updates on the patients, the attendants visit the hospitals regularly.
“We also call the patients’ kin in case of any requirements or update on the health status, but attendants are difficult to manage. Thus, we have now arranged for some seating availability outside so that they don’t insist on entering the ward. However, they are unknowingly exposing themselves,” said Dr Theranirajan.
Authorities at Omandurar Government General Hospital and Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital claim that barricades are in place and strict instructions have been given to all the visitors. “It will be a relief for the hospital authorities if the patients’ kin are aware that they might expose themselves to the COVID-19 infection if they visit the wards frequently. We have completely restricted the COVID-19 ward premises and allow visitors for only very critical patients,” said Dr P Balaji, dean, Stanley Medical College and Hospital.
Chennai cases dip below 1,000 mark again
At the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) that treats the highest number of virus cases in the city, there are a lot of anxious attendants of COVID patients and suspected cases thronging the ward, said the doctors there.
“The attendants crowd outside the hospital, within premises of the COVID-19 ward or near the emergency out of anxiety. In case of very critical cases, we allow close visitors with a PPE kit to see the patient on humanitarian grounds. However, no one is generally allowed but people fail to understand,” said Dr E Theranirajan, dean, RGGGH. Despite strict instructions and other arrangements in place to get updates on the patients, the attendants visit the hospitals regularly.
“We also call the patients’ kin in case of any requirements or update on the health status, but attendants are difficult to manage. Thus, we have now arranged for some seating availability outside so that they don’t insist on entering the ward. However, they are unknowingly exposing themselves,” said Dr Theranirajan.
Authorities at Omandurar Government General Hospital and Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital claim that barricades are in place and strict instructions have been given to all the visitors. “It will be a relief for the hospital authorities if the patients’ kin are aware that they might expose themselves to the COVID-19 infection if they visit the wards frequently. We have completely restricted the COVID-19 ward premises and allow visitors for only very critical patients,” said Dr P Balaji, dean, Stanley Medical College and Hospital.
Chennai cases dip below 1,000 mark again
While the number of COVID-19 cases in Chennai dipped to 968 on Thursday, the State reported a total of 5,892 fresh infections. The city cases again dipped below the 1,000 mark after more than a fortnight as the count rose to 1,38,724. Tamil Nadu also achieved a milestone in testing for coronavirus with the overall samples examined so far crossing the 50 lakh mark. The overall State tally now stands at 4,45,851. The day also saw 92 more fatalities pushing the death toll to 7,608, the Health Department said. Of the deaths, 34 were from private hospitals, while 58 were reported from government hospitals. The active cases in the State stood at 52,070. In line with the thrust on testing as a key measure in the battle against the pandemic, Tamil Nadu has been among the states with high number of tests.
On Thursday, a total of 82,901 samples were examined, all using the RT-PCR method, taking the cumulative number of specimens tested to 50,47,042. The number of recoveries continued to outnumber fresh infections with 6,110 people walking out of various hospitals on Thursday, taking the total number of those cured of the disease to 3,86,173. Among the districts, Coimbatore continued a surge with 593 cases while Cuddalore reported 590 new cases on Thursday.