Screening Centre, Not Hospital, Should Be First Stop After Testing Positive, Chennai Says

With many private hospitals in Chennai running out of ICU beds amid a surge in Covid cases, the Chennai Corporation has appealed to citizens to not seek admission if they are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. The civic body has also asked private hospitals to admit positive patients only if they absolutely require hospitalisation so that those with severe symptoms would get beds. Any of the dozen screening centres in the city, the corporation says, should be the first stop for non-emergency cases for an assessment. NDTV's Sam Daniel spoke to Chennai's Corporation Commissioner G Prakash on the system in place and on complaints of inadequate beds and the anti-viral drug Remdesivir in private hospitals.