A 904-bedded COVID Care Centre is coming up at the Chennai Trade Centre (CTC) soon. On Tuesday, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin visited the centre and inspected the ongoing work. He directed officials to launch the facility at the earliest.
The facility will have 11 kl of oxygen storage, and of the 904 beds, 504 will be oxygen, a press release said.
In addition to the facility at the CTC, there is a proposal to develop a COVID Care Centre with more than 5,000 beds at Athipet. This apart, care centres have started operations in Injambakkam, Manjambakkam and the Tondiarpet Communicable Diseases Hospital, officials said.
The Greater Chennai Corporation has launched home triaging for COVID-19 patients. The civic body has also opened screening centres at 15 locations on Tuesday.
Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said the number of COVID-19 cases were increasing in the city, especially because of the Omicron variant. As many as 4,200 active cases were reported by the Greater Chennai Corporation, and 2,180 of the patients were permitted to quarantine at home.
The civic body has appointed five COVID-19 volunteers for each of the 200 wards of the city.
The volunteers will visit COVID-19 patients to check on their needs on a daily basis.
The civic body has reintroduced the tele-caller facility in the zonal headquarters of the 15 zones to keep in contact with the COVID-19 patients in home quarantine. Each zone will have five tele-callers along with a medical officer. On Thursday, 45 car ambulances are expected to be launched by Ministers at Ripon Buildings to help COVID-19 patients. Currently, 22 ambulances are being used to take patients to hospitals and 15 screening centres.
“The number of cases has been increasing rapidly. The Greater Chennai Corporation has taken it very seriously, and we are proactively trying to anticipate what additional infrastructure will be required. The Corporation has four or five strategies. We have put in place a home triaging system. People should not compromise on masking. They should also go in for vaccination,” Mr. Bedi said.
Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister Sekarbabu on Tuesday opened a COVID-19 screening centre at the Barathi Arts College in Royapuram zone.