Hospitals reopen isolation wards for Covid-19 patients – ET HealthWorld

By the end of the day, there were 522 people in hospitals including 173 people on oxygen beds and 52 others in intensive care units. Hospitals – both private and government – are reopening new isolation wards to accommodate Covid-19 patients. “Only around 5% of patients are now admitted in hospitals, but there is an increase in absolute numbers almost every day. Most people have mild or no symptoms, but some others, particularly the elderly and people with comorbid conditions may require hospitalisation,” said health minister Ma Subramanian.

Chennai, the epicentre of the infection, had 4,745 active cases, followed by Chengalpet where 1,923 patients were under isolation. Among these 254 people in Chennai and 39 in Chengalpet were admitted to hospitals. At least 29 patients in Chennai were in the intensive care unit, while Chengalpet had nine.

All 38 districts reported at least one new case of the infection and the health department has asked local and civic bodies to ensure people follow pandemic protocols such as wearing masks and maintaining social distance.

After Chennai and Chengalpet, Tiruvallur (100) was the only other district to report new cases in three digits. While Coimbatore reported 96 new cases, Kancheepuram reported 71.

Clusters were reported from schools, colleges, workplaces, families and gated communities. District health authorities are insisting on saturation testing (testing all close contacts such as classmates, hostel mates, co-workers, neighbours, and family members) to ensure early isolation. On Thursday, samples were drawn from 29,860 people compared to around 22,000 a week ago. The state has 339 testing labs (70 in government hospitals) that have the capacity to test more than 3 lakh samples a day.

The Union territory of Puducherry reported 77 fresh Covid-19 cases even as 39 patients recovered taking the total number of active cases to 342 on Thursday. Only eight patients are undergoing treatment at hospitals, while the rest are under home isolation and treatment.

Puducherry headquarters reported the maximum fresh cases with 59 followed by Karaikal (13) and Yanam (5). Mahe did not report any fresh cases. Puducherry headquarters also has the maximum active cases with 257 followed by Karaikal (43), Yanam (28) and Mahe (6). The positivity rate of the infection continued to remain above 4%. THere were no deaths.