Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, proceeded, today, to the soft launch of a COVID-19 Testing Centre (Flu Clinic) set up at Dr Yves Cantin Community Hospital in Black River.
The Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo; the Private Parliamentary Secretary Mr Nand Prakash Ramchurrun; Member of National Assembly, Mrs Marie Sandra Monia Mayotte; and the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Mauritius, Dr Laurent Musango, were also present.
In a statement, Minister Ganoo highlighted that the setting up of this Flu Clinic will enable local health professionals to provide appropriate care to COVID-19 patients of the region.
The Minister underlined that with the trend that the COVID-19 pandemic is following, through continuous waves of contamination locally and internationally, it is essential to initiate appropriate measures to mitigate the effects of the virus as well as prevent contamination rapidly.
On this score, he lauded the effort of the Ministry of Health and Wellness which catered for the people of the Black River region so as to cope with the demand for additional health services in the catchment area.
As for Dr Jagutpal, he recalled that in view of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Flu Clinics were constructed at each of the five Regional Hospitals.
The purpose of the Flu Clinics, he underscored, is to separate patients with COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms to a one-stop-shop outstation within the hospital’s compound where they would be systematically screened for COVID-19.
It is in this context, the Minister stressed, that the COVID-19 Testing Centre was set up at Dr Yves Cantin Community Hospital, so that people of the region and the surrounding area benefit from appropriate screening for COVID-19 without having to travel a lot.
The Flu Clinic, he informed, comprises a well-equipped isolation ward where positive COVID-19 patients with symptoms will be made to wait until their transfer to Regional Hospitals.
Furthermore, the Health Minister highlighted the collaboration of the WHO and the European Union, which financed the setting up of the new Testing Centre to the tune of some Rs 6 million.
For his part, Dr Musango indicated that the setting up of the Flu Clinic was imperative as Black River is the only region where there are no Regional Hospitals to cater for the screening of COVID-19.
He further stated that at the WHO, this type of Centre is known as a Sentinel Centre, where all diseases with epidemic tendencies, including Influenza, Dengue, Malaria, along with COVID-19 can be detected in time, thus preventing contamination with other diseases that patients do not suffer from.
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