Thane Municipal Corporation asks private hospitals to set up special OPD

Deputy municipal commissioner Sandeep Malvi said, “The patients are supposed to be categorised in three categories.

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has given directives to some private hospitals in the city to start a special out-patient department (OPD) cell to check patients with fever and other symptoms similar to Covid-19. The directives were issues by civic commissioner Vijay Singhal who also asked private hospitals to categorise the patients according to risk factor.

The hospitals who examine patients belonging any of the three categories or those showing symptoms should ensure that patients maintain a distance of one or two metre between each other. (Vipin Kumar/HT file photo)

With the increasing number of cases of coronavirus in the city, the civic body has asked private hospitals to screen patients with fever and flu-like symptoms to ease the pressure on government hospitals. As a number of patients visit private clinics that do not have separate arrangements for Covid-19 patients, a dedicated OPD will ensure the hospital and existing patients are not exposed to the outbreak.

Deputy municipal commissioner Sandeep Malvi said, “The patients are supposed to be categorised in three categories. The first category will include patients who have returned from foreign countries in the last 28 days. In the second category, hospitals will categorise close contacts of the travellers who had returned from a foreign trip, which will mainly include their family members and people who visited them.”

The third category will include people who are experiencing symptoms like fever, sore throat, cough, cold or breathlessness.

Malvi added, “We are checking all low-risk and high-risk contacts of the people who have tested positive for Covid-19. The hospitals who examine patients belonging any of the three categories or those showing symptoms should ensure that patients maintain a distance of one or two metre between each other. The hospitals will also guide suspected patients to government-approved testing centres for confirmation. They are also supposed to send the names of suspected or confirmed patients to the civic body.”