Prepare for Omicron spread, hospitals told

However, authorities said the hospital are already well-equipped to deal with the scenario, as there is no change in the treatment and management of the Omicron variant. “We are following the same treatment protocol as other COVID cases. The patients are recovering well and there is no significant change in their health status,” said an official from the King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research, Guindy, where two passengers who came from abroad are being admitted.

Apart from the institute, special wards have been readied at Tamil Nadu Multi Super Speciality Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital to admit and treat international passengers who test positive. Isolation wards have also been set up at other district headquarter hospitals to ensure that they had adequate beds and healthcare facilities.

As of now, about 200 beds have been earmarked for international passengers who are found with the infection, officials said, adding that the State also has 8,700 ICU beds, 40,000 oxygen beds and 27,000 non-oxygen beds to treat pandemic cases.

“The treatment protocol for those testing positive remains the same and there are no Omicron cases reported in Tamil Nadu yet. The hospitals in the State have adequate infrastructure and facilities available,” said Dr TS Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, pointing out that there was no significant rise in the number of fresh cases. He added that the public should not pay heed to unverified information on Omicron that are circulating on social media.