Corona-screening corners to be set up at hospitals in Patiala

Patiala, April 6

Amidst Covid-19 pandemic, to restart general OPDs, all hospitals, including private, will have corona-screening corners at their entrance.

All patients entering any hospital will first be screened at said corners as a precautionary step to safeguard doctors and paramedical staff. The staff at these corners would be equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE) kit.

“Screening corners are being set up to protect medical staff dealing with Covid patients,” said the administration.

“By setting up these corners at the hospital entrance, the authorities will be able to identify suspected Covid-19 patients at the gate itself,” said the Health Department.

Thereby, vulnerability of doctors, paramedical staff and patients could be reduced to a great deal, the department added.

Patients with influenza-like symptoms and severe respiratory illness, identified at these corners, would directly go for Covid-19 testing, the department said.

At these corners, each patient entering the hospital complex would first wash his/her hands with soap, the department added.

The Patiala Civil Surgeon, Harish Malhotra, insisted that any hospital without functional flu corners would not be allowed to run OPDs. Patients with cough and fever would not be allowed to mix up with general patients to avoid the spread of disease at the hospital, he added.

Pharmacy at Civil Hospitals and CHCs would be converted into flu corners as they would be isolated from the main hospital complex, he said.

“Hospitals can be a hotspot of virus infection because asymptomatic patients of Covid-19 can infect other patients. Therefore, precautions are being taken at hospitals,” he added.

In an advisory to doctors, District Health department stated, “Doctors at screening centers should preferably sit inside cabin and converse with patients through a window in order to take relevant history from them.” — TNS