Medical Education Minister Dr. K. Sudhakar on hospital rounds in city

Mysore/Mysuru: Mysuru will get an advanced COVID-19 screening laboratory with all the necessary facilities to test patients for coronavirus symptoms and refer them to hospitals where quarantine centres have been set up, said Medical Education Minister Dr. K. Sudhakar. 

The Minister was speaking to reporters at Government Guest House in city this morning. The Minister is here for a series of hospital visits. 

First he visited the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research Centre behind PKTB Sanatorium on KRS Road and he is scheduled to visit the Cheluvamba and K.R. Hospital in the afternoon. 

Sudhakar said that the COVID-19 screening laboratory will be established in Mysuru within a fortnight and will be a facility that will help patients and suspected patients in the Mysuru region. “There is no need for panic and the laboratory is a part of the Government strategy to combat the killer virus and to send out a message that the Government is geared up to tackle the situation,” he said and added that the State was taking all precautionary measures. 

In the wake of the general fear among the people, the Government has issued circulars to not to use biometric devices for login process at offices and other places, Sudhakar said.

On the high demand for masks in the wake of virus spread, the Minister said that only N-95 mask can prevent virus spread. “Many medical shops are cashing-in on the scare by selling all kinds of masks at exorbitant prices much beyond the MRP. Only N-95 masks can prevent virus spread. Other people who have cough and cold can use a normal surgical mask to prevent the spread of any virus,” Dr. Sudhakar, who himself is a medical doctor, said. 

At Jayadeva Hospital, the Minister was impressed by the architecture and facilities and said that the Hospital was no less than a corporate hospital. He said that he was happy to note that the Hospital is functioning under the guidance of Director Dr. C.N. Manjunath. 

Dr. Manjunath told the Minister, who visited all sections of the Hospital including the food court, that the Hospital has begun functioning in full-fledged manner. Jayadeva’s OPD is handling about 600 patients per day, he said adding that angiogram and angioplasty procedures were performed on 25 to 30 patients every day. 

Dr. Manjunath, showing the hi-tech heart screening facilities to the Minister, said that hundreds of open heart surgeries have been conducted so far.

After his visit to Jayadeva, the Minister began his visit to State-run Cheluvamba Hospital where many patients mobbed Dr. Sudhakar complaining about absolute lack of facilities at the Hospital that was set up by the Wadiyars. 

The Minister, appalled by the condition of the State-run Hospital, was hearing to the patients’ woes when we went to press. 

He was scheduled to visit K.R. Hospital, Mysore Medical College and JSS Medical College and Hospital. The Minister will also visit Suttur Mutt and later head to BJP Office in city.