Nine new screening centres for testing Covid patients

CHENNAI: The city corporation has added nine new triage/screening centres to the existing 12 centres that are functioning across city corporation limits at present. This will ensure that residents who test positive for Covid will not have to travel far to be screened, said MA Siddique, secretary of Commercial Taxes, who has been nominated as special coordinator for Greater Chennai Corporation reporters, on Thursday. He was addressing reporters along with Corporation Commissioner G Prakash.

In addition to the nine new triage centres, a 24x7 screening centre is being set up at Kendriya Vidyalaya located near Island Grounds. “At present, city residents who experience even mild Covid-19 symptoms, especially at night, rush to our government hospitals directly because they are anxious. This may prevent someone suffering from more severe symptoms, such as breathlessness, from being treated on a priority basis,” said Siddique. The 24x7 screening centre will allow these patients to be checked and recommended home isolation or hospital/care centre admission based on their symptoms.

With the number of coronavirus cases continuing to increase in the city, steps are being taken to increase the number of oxygen beds, he added. In government hospitals, there are 2,545 oxygen beds and 3,129 non-oxygen beds. Oxygen points will be added to the beds available at the Chennai Trade Centre. Further, to the existing 1,057 ICU beds, 320 more are to be added, he said.

Corporation Commissioner G Prakash told reporters that a new umbrella portal http://covid19.chennaicorporation.gov.in/covid/home/ has been created to enable city residents to access all Covid-related information in the same place. Here, information on vaccination centres with Google Map coordinates, addresses of testing centres, screening centres, and fever camps are available.