DIMAPUR, Aug 5 - In an advisory, the Nagaland Health and Family Welfare Department has said that if serious or critical patients require hospitalisation and approach a COVID-19 hospital, they must be admitted in the isolation ward and stabilised, subject to availability of beds.
The department asked COVID-19 hospitals and health care institutions � both government and private � not to turn away serious or critical patients for want of a COVID-19 test report, referral letter or statement of nature of disease.
The Principal Director of the Health and Family Welfare Department, Dr Vizolie Z Suokhrie, said patients are expected to seek health care at hospitals and health centres. He said all health care workers must be prepared, irrespective of whether the hospital or health care centre is a COVID-19 hospital or not, to take precautions and treat every patient as a potential COVID-19 patient.
Suokhrie warned that if there is any denial of treatment to any patient for want of a COVID-19 test report, appropriate action would be initiated against the health care worker or hospital as per law.
He said that an isolation facility should be arranged by every hospital or health centre. He added that the hospital authority would be responsible for immediate reporting of any suspected COVID-19 case or those who are confirmed through rapid antigen tests, to the district surveillance unit.
The department�s advisory said all hospitals should make provisions for rapid antigen tests for quick testing of COVID-19. If there is no testing facility in the hospital, it should be responsible for collection of samples to be sent to the nearest testing facility.
Meanwhile, Nagaland�s COVID-19 tally jumped to 2,499 with the detection of 94 positive cases on Wednesday.
�94 new +ve cases have been confirmed out of 455 samples tested,� Health and Family Welfare Minister S Pangnyu Phom tweeted. He said 89 cases are from Dimapur and five from Kohima.
Necessary contract tracing has been activated and all primary contacts are under self-isolation, Phom added.
