Coimbatore: Karumathampatti quarantine centre gets another 50 beds

COIMBATORE: The 50-bed Covid-19 quarantine centre set up at the hostel of the Tejaa Shakthi Institute of Technology for Women at Karumathampatti was fitted with 50 more beds on Wednesday.
Health department staff who cleaned the rooms and attached toilets also ensured that all cots had mattresses. The first inmates to the centre are likely to be the passengers of the Air Arabia flight from Sharjah, which will land here on Thursday morning.
A five-member medical team that will have at least a doctor will monitor the inmates, collector K Rajamani said.“The centre has a large hall, television, fans and medication for the comorbidities,” he told TOI.
While it was earlier decided to quarantine all asymptomatic people from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, China, Oman, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Spain, Germany and France, authorities have now decided to quarantine only those above the age of 60 and those with comorbid conditions like diabetes and heart issues, the collector said. “The district administration has assuaged the fears of Karumathampatti residents regarding the quarantine centre. We explained who would be quarantining here.”
As many as 100 local residents had staged a protest in front of the facility and blocked the collector’s car on Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, the testing centre for Covid-19 being set up on the Coimbatore Medical College premises is soon expected to get clearance from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. “They have completed the preliminary procedures after the equipment and kits arrived as per the Indian Council of Medical Research’s protocols. The clearance from NIV is expected either Wednesday night or Thursday,” Rajamani added.