Coronavirus outbreak: Visit nearby hospitals first, not us, says PGI

CHANDIGARH: PGI director Prof Jagat Ram on Tuesday wrote to the chief secretaries of adjoining states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, requesting them to contain transmission of coronavirus by asking patients to first visit a nearby hospital instead of directly coming to the premier medical institute.
On Monday, a suspected case of the virus from Mohali was admitted to the institute.The PGI daily sees around 10,000 patients in OPDs. “Patients should not travel far and in the process transmit any infection. Nearby hospitals must first examine them,” said Dr Vikas Suri, department of internal medicine, PGI.
The sample of the 28-year-old patient was on Monday sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune. “We had sent throat swab and blood samples. They were received on Tuesday. We expect the report by Wednesday,” said Dr Suri.
So far, eight passengers who had travelled to China have visited hospitals in Punjab. “They are from Ropar, Amritsar, Patiala and Mohali. None of them had any symptoms,” said Dr Gagandeep Grover, state programme officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, Punjab.
All the three government hospitals in the city have already set up their isolation wards for H1N1 and coronavirus. “There is no need to panic. We are prepared to contain the virus. There were some queries regarding the virus on our helpline,” said Dr Upendrajeet Singh Gill, state surveillance officer, Chandigarh
All the health workers posted in the communicable disease isolation ward have been provided N95 face masks and other protective covers. “All the districts have state surveillance units and they send the sample for testing to the laboratory in Pune. Therefore, patients can come on their own to these hospitals if they have a China travel history,” said Dr Suri.
The UT health department said since January 1, a total of 56,475 houses have been surveyed and members of the households sensitized about H1N1 and coronavirus with pamphlets in both Hindi and English. Till now, awareness lectures have also been delivered in 14 schools and colleges, wherein 3,286 students have been sensitized about the two viruses.