Hospitals in Tamil Nadu see more footfall as lockdown norms are relaxed

Hospitals in Tamil Nadu see more footfall as lockdown norms are relaxed

TNN | May 17, 2020, 04.58 AM IST

MADURAI: Hospitals across the state, both government and private, are seeing an increase in footfall of non-emergency patients for the past few days with relaxations being announced during lockdown. Doctors said that those who can use their own vehicle or hire a mode of transport for themselves are starting to queue up at the outpatient department of hospitals, which are functioning with Covid-19 precautionary measures in place.

“Though footfall of patients is not yet back to normal, it is increasing when compared to the start of April. Those who were coming for regular check-ups are returning now, especially as it has been nearly two months since lockdown,” said Dr B Kannan, medical administrator at a private multi-specialty hospital, which generally witnesses a footfall of 1,500 outpatients in a day. He observed that while only those who needed treatments like chemotherapy and dialysis used to frequent for the past months, now others including ante-natal mothers are visiting hospital.

At Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) in Madurai, which is one of the biggest tertiary care centres in the state, footfall to outpatient departments is slowly increasing, according to doctors. Even elderly and pregnant women, who can arrange their private vehicles, have started to come for check-ups. “Many patients are coming from nearby villages to the city,” said a senior doctor at GRH.

While government hospitals are yet to continue elective surgeries, many private hospitals have already started resuming it. “We are taking all precautions and they do need to be done soon as patients have already waited for a long time. Otherwise, it would end up being an emergency case, particularly for cancer or cardiac patients,” said an oncological surgeon, who did not wish to be named. Meanwhile, some smaller private clinics and hospitals remained shut or continued to function with restricted timings amid Covid-19 scare. “Even with restricted timings, the footfall has increased. However, we are not getting new patients for outpatient departments,” said Dr A Sowmiya, duty medical officer at a private hospital.