Central team inspects Omicron preparedness, oxygen facilities in Tamil Nadu

A team of experts from the Centre, including Dr Vineeta, Dr Purbasa, Dr M Santhosh Kumar and Dr Dinesh Babu S inspected the oxygen production unit, storage unit and Omicron ward at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH). on Monday. 

Health Minister Ma Subramanian said that the expert committee also inspected the functioning and follow of protocols by 108 ambulance services and control room in case of a surge in the Omicron cases. The committee will also monitor the Covid vaccination in Tamil Nadu and will inspect government hospitals in Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu also and submit a report to Union Health Ministry.

Health Minister Ma Subramanian said that Chief Minister M K Stalin also reviewed the Omicron preparedness in the State. "There are a total of 97 people who have been detected with S-gene-drop in the State at the State Public Health Laboratory so far. Of the same, 34 people tested positive for Omicron upon confirmation from the National Institute of Virology, 18 of them have successfully recovered and discharged. Currently, there are 16 of them who are under treatment and the central committee will be inspecting the treatment being given to them. A total of 1,250 beds are ready for Omicron cases in the State," health minister said.

"Since the reports of the individuals who show the presence of S-gene-drop are confirmed very late and the patients are treated and discharged during the same time. We will be requesting the central committee to issue the reports on priority or grant the authorisation to the State Public Health Laboratory to confirm the genomic sequencing reports so that the daily reports can be given for those suspected for Omicron," said Ma Subramanian.

The Health Minister will also urge the Central expert committee to grant the permission to issue orders for compulsory isolation for seven days and increase the testing of the international passengers from non-risk countries from 2 per cent to 10 per cent as more passengers from those countries have been found to have S-gene-drop upon random testing.