Surat: Anticipating a surge in Covid-19 cases in the coming weeks, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has asked communities that had earlier set up community isolation centres (CICs) in the city, to reopen them for asymptomatic patients.
In July, number of communities had set up isolation centres for patients with mild or moderate symptoms. The CICs were mainly for people who do not have isolation facilities at home. The facilities were offered free of cost by the communities. A total of 20 CICs with 1,212 bed capacity were set up during July and August when the Covid-19 infections were peaking. However, 17 centres closed after number of new cases dropped.
“We are seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases. So, we have asked communities to re-start their CICs. At present, four centres are operational and within the next few days, all other centres will be open with full capacity,” said R J Makadia, officer on special duty (OSD), SMC.
Most of the CICs provide basic medical facilities while some also provide oxygen support as well. “But if patients’ condition worsens, he has to be shifted to a hospital for treatment,” added Makadia.