NT NETWORK
Panaji
The state government has arrived at a decision to create a new category of proxy COVID-19 patients, based on revelations from the death audit report.
A meeting of the expert committee on COVID-19 management was held in the city on Friday under the chairmanship of Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.
The Health Minister said that as per the recent World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, Goa will follow a syndromic approach wherein symptomatic cases with negative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test will be regarded as proxy COVID-19 cases.
“The decision to create a new category of proxy COVID-19 patients has been taken based on revelations from the death audit report,” Rane said.
The Health Minister said that strict and efficient monitoring of the home-isolated patients can be a game-changer in tackling COVID-19 and help bring down the mortality rate. He said the home isolation kits will be distributed to offline patients as well, those who do not have access to register themselves on portal.
“Each family will be given one kit, along with supplementary medicine supply in case more than one member of a family has been infected. The purchase committee will finalise the order for procuring additional medicines,” he said. The minister said discrete guidelines will be given by the respective health officers to home-isolated patients on the correct usage of the kit.
“We shall be developing a dashboard in association with Goa Electronics Limited to monitor the distribution of the kits. Ten nurses will be dedicated for monitoring the home-isolated dashboard. The health workers like ANMS and MPHW will be in constant touch with the patients. The dashboard will have a special tab highlighting 50+ or high-risk patients,” he said.
Rane further said the government has decided to encourage more testing in the state while also maintaining an optimum balance between RT-PCR and antigen testing. He said one more Apheresis machine has been installed at the Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim.
The Health Minister said CT scan will be added as a protocol for suspected symptomatic patients whose RT-PCR is negative. He said the patients under home isolation are being counselled to look after their mental well-being.
