Exclusive burns ward set up at govt hospitals across Tamil Nadu

After inspecting the burns ward set up at Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital on Wednesday, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said the hospital had treated 42 patients with burn injuries during the festival in 2016. This number has been fluctuating in the recent years – 25 in 2018 and 55 in 2019 – but went down to a relatively low number, 13, last year. The Minister expressed hope that it would go down further this year.

When asked, the Minister said dengue was under control in the State, with 489 cases reported so far this year. He attributed it to increased testing. For instance, 32,260 samples were tested for dengue in 2020, which went up to 1,08,405 samples till now this year. The government has 14,833 fogging machines and two lakh litres of chemicals used for mosquito control, he added.

Talking about the ongoing vaccination drive against COVID, Subramanian said Collectors of all districts were instructed to identify those who were yet to be inoculated at the more than 80,000 local bodies in the State, including panchayats, municipalities and corporations, and administer the vaccine so as to ensure 100 per cent coverage of at least one dose. As of now, 71 per cent of the eligible population has been vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister MK Stalin gave an incentive of Rs 196.91 crore to 1,05,168 healthcare workers who were involved in fighting the COVID pandemic. This includes 24,908 clinical researchers, 26,615 nurses, 6,791 health analysts, 8,658 village health nurses, 6,083 laboratory technicians, and 32,113 other healthcare workers.