COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment in the ICU and emergency wards of the Government Medical College and ESI Hospital here had a special visitor on Sunday — Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
Donning personal protective equipment, Mr. Stalin walked into the emergency ward and, from a safe distance, enquired with the patients about their health and the treatment provided at the hospital. He also wished them a speedy recovery before leaving. At the ICU, he enquired with Dean M. Raveendran about the condition of the patients and the treatment given.
According to an official release, Mr. Stalin was the first Chief Minister in the country to visit a COVID-19 ward.
Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma. Subramanian, Secretary to the Chief Minister P. Umanath and Coimbatore Collector S. Nagarajan were among those accompanying Mr. Stalin.
Fighting COVID-19
After the visit, Mr. Stalin wrote on Twitter that hope and consolation that others offered to patients, along with medicines, would help them recover from the disease. “The government of Tamil Nadu will instil hope,” he tweeted, along with photos of the visit.
“Despite the caring advice not to go to the ward, I went in to instil hope in the frontline workers, including doctors who risk their lives, the patients and their families. We will defeat the pandemic,” he said.
The ESI Hospital, one of the two tertiary care government facilities for COVID-19 treatment in the district, has 1,273 beds — 382 normal beds, 678 oxygen beds and 213 ICU beds.
