Chaotic scenes on Day 2 at Covid centre

Coimbatore: A day after chief minister M K Stalin inaugurated a 200-bed Covid treatment centre at the Government Arts College, waiting time for beds and number of ambulances lined up outside for beds have reduced by 50% at the government hospital in the city on Monday.
Around noon on Monday, the government hospital’s Covid-19 block entrance looked relatively empty with the flu-like illness outpatient clinic moved to arts college and beds with oxygen also facilitated at the college. The triage centre has also been moved out of the GH.
Though the number of Covid-19 cases has begun dropping, ambulances both 108 and private kept driving into the college almost continuously.
When TOI was at the spot, there were at least 12 ambulances lined up outside the in-patient ward.
The waiting time for a bed too had reduced by five to six hours to hardly one to two hours for most patients.
But it was chaotic for many new patients who had no idea where the triage centre was and just began standing in front of the OP counter.
One of the attendants was in tears because he was waiting outside with his 76-year-old mother for the past 45 minutes.
At 12.30 pm, the first ward with 120 beds and oxygen facilities was full. Doctors and staff were running around trying to get another 46 beds on the first floor of the auditorium building ready.
“That section is challenging because very sick patients can’t be transferred in their stretchers upstairs. Though there was a makeshift camp set up with another 50 beds and another ward also being set up, we don’t have electricity connections for them yet,” said medical director Dr Sadagopan, who was on inspection.
Health officers said they needed some form of a task force to ensure visitors and attendants were kept outside the campus and someone to coordinate all the logistics.
“The logistics include ensuring visitor vehicles don’t enter or park within the premises, ensure vehicles don’t block ambulances and visitors don’t crowd in such a way that we don’t realise who are patients, who are volunteers and who are attendants,” said a doctor.
The lack of water and electricity connections to the makeshift camp also was an issue.
“We need all departments on hands here like the public works department, corporation and Tangedco, etc., to make sure everything works smoothly, so we staff can focus only on patients and triaging,” Dr Sadagopan said.