Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has said steps will be taken to install CCTV cameras at all government hospitals, especially in Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and NewBorn Care (CEmONC) wards in the State to prevent incidents like abduction of babies.
It may be recalled that a 5-day-old girl was stolen from the maternity ward of the district headquarters hospital in Pollachi on 3 July, but was rescued in 22 hours in Kerala. Addressing media persons after inaugurating a Sub-Primary Health Center and reviewing the Kalaignarin ‘Varumun Kappom’ (Preventive Health Care) at Kurumpapalayam in Madukkarai, he said construction work for AIIMS in Madurai is expected to commence in six months. “The initial work will be completed in two months, after which a tender will be floated and the construction will start in six months,” he said.
On COVID-19 preventive measures, he said, “Currently, around 2,600 – 2,700 cases are reported in the State a day. There has been no death due to COVID-19 in the last three months. Two deaths that were reported recently were not due to COVID-19, but other complications. There are more than 14,000 active cases, but only 5 per cent patients are admitted in the hospitals. There is no need to tighten restrictions at present.”
He added that following the increase in cases, health department is conducting 30,000 RT-PCR tests per day across the State, up from the 12,000 tests it conducted earlier. Further, the minister said that the government has added two more facilities under the Varumun Kappom scheme – treatment of TB and cataract. “In the camps, suspected mucus sample will be tested immediately through a mobile vehicle and treatment will be meted out according to the results. Now, even cataract can be tested on the van through an application,” Subramanian said.
