Chennai, Apr 15 (IANS): The Chennai corporation will set up triage centres in 12 more areas, the office of the Commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation said.

Triage centres are being set up to screen Covid-19 patients and to ascertain the next course of action based on the symptoms of the patients.

These centres will decide whether a patient testing positive be admitted to a hospital, or allowed home quarantine or be admitted to a Covid care centre. At present, there are three such full fledged centres in Chennai and the corporation has decided to extend this to 12 more areas in the city as the Covid cases are surging again.

The Corporation commissioner G. Prakash said that Post Graduate doctors in these centres will decide the next course of action for the patients based on the severity of the symptoms and this will lead to a reduction in the load at hospitals, thus freeing several beds. Patients with mild symptoms may be allowed home quarantine or admitted at care centres instead of hospitals.

At present, the Covid-19 care centres operated by the Corporation have 12,500 beds and only 500 are used and during the first wave of Covid, the corporation had 28,000 beds, the Commissioner said.

The Colleges which were turned into polling stations will also be converted to Covid care centres, according to the Commissioner. The city has 8,000 volunteers for fever surveillance and in a few days time their numbers will be increased to 12,000.

The corporation commissioner said that the city has a stock of 10-15 lakh doses of vaccine and that the stocks will be replenished as soon as it is exhausted.