30 applications for liquor on Day 1

Kerala is working on logistics to make available supplies to alcohol-dependents

01/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,KOCHI

On a high: Kerala has the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the country. Thulasi Kakkat

Alcohol-dependents in Kerala who succeeded in securing prescriptions from doctors to get their daily dose of booze may have to wait for one more day to get their hand on the bottle.

Since the first day of every month is being observed as dry day in the State, they may not be able to buy their quota of alcohol from the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (BEVCO) on April 1. On April 2, BEVCO may make alcohol available on production of the medical pass certified by the Excise Department.

Since the government has ordered the closure of liquor outlets, including retail outlets of the corporation, bars, clubs, and toddy shops, alcohol may have to be made available through the warehouses or godowns of the corporation, a senior BEVCO official said.

BEVCO is working on the logistics to make alcohol available based on the permits to be issued by the Excise Department. The quantity of the Indian Made Foreign Liquor to be made available will depend on the permit, he said.

On Tuesday, the first day after the government issued an order permitting medical passes for the alcohol-dependents, the Excise Department received as many as 30 applications.

“Some applications were rejected as the certificates indicating that the patient had alcohol withdrawal symptoms were issued by retired doctors. Only serving government medical doctors are authorised to issue such certificates,” said S. Aananthakrishnan, Excise Commissioner.

The role of the department is confined to the issuance of passes and the distribution of alcohol will be the responsibility of BEVCO, he said.

The dilemma of a hospital administrator

01/04/2020

The Shakespearean dilemma, “To be or not to be”, holds good for most doctors and surgeons in the country right now. The extraordinary times we live in, with the pandemic looming large and around us, a much-needed 21-day lockdown enforced by the Prime Minister seems the last resort left to take the viral pandemic by its horns.

However, remember the viral illness isn’t the only illness and other non-communicable diseases still continue to be the major killer. This includes diseases related to diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardiovascular and neurological diseases. The most notable among these are cancers. Most diseases, with the exception of cancer, require a patient to comply with recommendations of a healthy lifestyle, monitoring and drug intake.

The compliance could potentially reduce the need to travel to a clinic/hospital, temporarily reducing footfall inside a healthcare facility, where less-immune people are prone to coming together. However, one needs to weigh the risks and benefits of visting/not visiting the doctor.

We doctors use our learning to decide the need for a planned procedure — the so-called elective procedures. Can we afford to sideline the “elective cases” during the pandemic? Why is it important to withhold elective/planned surgeries/procedures? Unlike any other profession, we doctors deal with humanity at its most vulnerable. It is not just science, but empathy and trust between the doctor and patient that forms the keystone of this scenario.

So why is it important to say no to a surgery/procedure to a patient who needs it, but who is not in immediate danger?The learning from the West and the East has been clear, with hospitals becoming the major source point of infection spread. The lockdown is the biggest social experiment we have undertaken since the partition of India. The current situation warrants a doctor to use his utmost clinical judgement to reschedule the procedure to break the chain, by reducing the contacts of the vulnerable ones. It is also important to reduce the occupancy of patients beds, ventilators and other resources, which will become necessary if a potential need arises.

Clear directions from the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) and PMO to postpone all elective procedures for a month, is a step taken to handle pandemic transmission. But the buck doesn’t stop there — the recent development of implementing a tele-health policy through the recently formed board of governors (replacing the MCI) is a disruption in itself. With high speed internet-enabled smartphones in most hands, tele-consultations for all non-emergency visits is just a click away. What was thought as a tool to reach the unreachable sectors of the society has taken a different avatar now, enabling us to reach everyone.

It is often quoted “chaos is the ladder of opportunity”. This pandemic brings forth a lot of fundamental thinking and action in all sectors of society. A society where public health takes precedence over economy, where family takes precedence over self indulgence, where priorities and culture of the organisation towards its employees matter more than the take-home packages or bonuses.

All it requires for us to do is to sit back and relax, as that’s the strongest weapon to fight the pandemic, and I am sure we will lead by example.

Police stress on ‘stay-at-home’ message with novel methods

Persons found loitering made to do squats, promise to obey the law

01/04/2020, R. SIVARAMAN,CHENNAI

Lesson learnt: Over 15 persons who violated the prohibitory orders were made to do squats in Puzhal.Special Correspondent

As people continue defying the lockdown and loiter on roads without reason, police personnel in the city have resorted to novel methods to make people realise the importance of staying indoors.

At 1.30 p.m. on Monday, the scene on Puzhal Camp road resembled a gym — over 15 persons, lined up under the scorching sun, were made to do half-squats by a woman sub-inspector.

She first demonstrated how to do the exercise. The violators were then made to follow the drill, over the next 20 minutes.

Jayanthi, a sub-inspector of police, said: “People don’t understand the seriousness of a lockdown. They just saunter around. Some of them said that they came out to visit their friends. We have to effectively implement law and order by adopting these methods.”

At Ennore Wimco Nagar, the police caught people on the road and made them do squats.

They were also made to repeat: “Hereafter, we will not step out anywhere. We will obey the orders of the government.”

Another group at the Maduvoyal police station was made to repeat, “We will cooperate with the police and government authorities. We will wear masks.”

Red Hills Inspector P. Jawahar asked people, gathered on the roadside, to stand in lines, holding placards stating that they would obey the prohibitory orders.

A police officer told the violators, “You are all well-educated and should realise your mistake. You should go and tell people in your neighbourhood that they must not step out unnecessarily, when a lockdown is in place, and that the disease may spread faster if people keep coming out.”

Jumping quarantine

The police also pulled up a person from the crowd who had returned from a foreign country recently and was told to stay under home quarantine.

A police officer asked him, “Why you are coming out, sir? You have been to foreign countries where you obeyed the law. But here, you don’t. You are educated. So why did you come out, and that too without wearing a mask?”

He was whisked away to the police station and a case was booked against him for violating the law.

Assistant Commissioner, Flower Bazaar, Lakshmanan, made violators read out a statement that they would not come out unnecessarily hereafter, during lockdown.

‘Facilitate pensioners to contribute towards fund’

01/04/2020, CHENNAI

The T.N. Retired College Teachers’ Association has appealed to the government to facilitate members of their association to donate a day’s pension to the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund to aid the fight against COVID-19. Nearly 4,500 members of the association have decided to pitch in.

Senior citizens urged to take precautions

01/04/2020,CHENNAI

The Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Department has asked senior citizens to take necessary precautions and preventive measures to safeguard themselves from COVID-19. They have been asked to follow social distancing norms and ensure that they don’t step outdoors or meet people outside of their homes. If they have any symptoms, they can contact the emergency helpline 104 or the toll-free number 1800 120 555550.

Doctors due for retirement to be roped in

01/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday announced that the doctors, nurses and medical technicians who were due to retire on March 31, 2020, would be appointed as consultants for a two-month period.

He said the appointments would be made on a contractual basis.

“This government has been taking all necessary steps on a war footing to control the spread of the coronavirus disease. I request the public to cooperate with the government on the implementation of the measures being taken for the welfare of the people,” he said. The CM’s decision came close on the heels of a meeting he had with senior officials.

Tahsildars to issue passes for intra-district travel

Collectors will handle movement between districts

01/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The Tamil Nadu government has authorised Tahsildars across the State to issue passes allowing people to travel within their respective districts to attend weddings (the dates for which were fixed earlier) and funerals and in case of health emergencies during the lockdown period.

In a communication to all District Collectors, Revenue Secretary Atulya Misra said, “For movement within districts, powers [to issue passes] have been delegated to Tahsildars. However, in case the event mentioned needs inter-district movement, it (the emergency pass) may be issued by the Collectors.”

As for movement within the jurisdiction of the Greater Chennai Corporation, the zonal officers concerned were authorised to issue passes. In case of movement out of the Greater Chennai Corporation, the Corporation Commissioner would take the call. “It may be directed that all the public health guidelines on COVID-19, such as social distancing, hand washing and office disinfection protocol, issued by the health authorities from time to time, should be strictly followed,” the communication added.