Kolkata: In a bid to check the relentless spike in COVID-19 cases, hospitals have been directed to ensure separate isolation wards for "SARI and suspected COVID-19 patients" as they should not be admitted in general wards.
The direction came from the state Health department after the experts from the Protocol Monitoring Team of the department "visited some private COVID-19 hospitals on Thursday and noted certain discrepancies in practice". It includes a set of recommendations based on the observations of the Protocol Monitoring Team.
The directives stating the advisory on case management of COVID-19 patients were sent to authorities of all the private COVID-19 hospitals, Principal of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital and Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, superintendents of all state-run COVID-19 hospitals and Chief Medical Officers of Health of all districts.
This comes a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had stated that there can be nothing unfortunate than a non-COVID patient getting infected when he or she visits hospital for some other treatment. On Wednesday she held a meeting at Nabanna Sabhaghar with top brass of different hospitals and announced a set of steps for protection of doctors who are fighting in the frontline to treat people suffering from COVID-19.
Sources said the direction not to keep the "SARI and suspected COVID-19 patients" in the general ward has been given considering it increases the chances of infection. So until the swab sample test of such a person confirms that he or she is not suffering from COVID-19, it is not permitted to admit him or her in the general ward.
In the advisory, the hospital authorities have also been directed not to give any immunosuppressive drug on experimental basis if it is not recommended in government's guidelines.
In an advisory that the state Health department had issued on Wednesday, it was directed to ensure proper assessment and triage should be done during admission at the emergency department. At the same time close and intense monitoring of ICU patients to be done centrally and immediate interventions to be made for any deterioration.