Medical education minister warns four Medical colleges in DK for not starting COVID labs

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Mangaluru, June 3, 2020: Medical education minister K Sudhakar on Wednesday hinted that the government may soon take a call on exempting people returning to state from high prevalence state of Maharashtra from mandatory institutional quarantine.

The returnees are likely to be sent directly for 14-days of home quarantine.

The minister after holding meetings in Mangaluru and Udupi to take stock of COVID situation said that experts are of the opinion that home quarantine is more effective in containing the spread of the virus than institutional quarantine. Also, the hostels and hotels can’t be as quarantine facilities for long as normalcy has to return.

Further, he said people will be more alert if they are under home quarantine and chances of cross-contamination is also less at homes. To monitor those under home quarantine, the task force committees will be formed at every ward level in rural and urban areas. Technology will also be used for effective monitoring.

The public representatives suggested the minister to do away with the concept of containment zones and instead seal down houses of COVID patients and provide necessary supplies from the state which the minister said will be seriously considered.

Medical colleges warned for not starting COVID labs
Sudhakar took serious exception to four medical colleges in Dakshina Kannada not starting COVID testing lab and said they should do it at the earlier failing which action will be initiated against them.

He said Medical Council of India (MCI) has made mandatory for medical colleges to open COVID lab and warned of stalling their PG admissions if they do not fall obey the order. He also asked the four other medical colleges that have already started the labs to ramp up the number of tests and conduct at least 300-500 tests a day.
 

Courtesy: The New Indian Express