Clinical profile of the patients at Siddha Covid Care Centre, Theni, Tamil Nadu, India - A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: The Indian Government issued various guidelines to the state government wherein introduced plan for setting up COVID care centres (CCC) to isolate and monitor asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 patients. The Government of Tamil Nadu, apart from CCC used the strength of traditional Siddha medicine, one of the Indian systems of medicine, by opening Siddha Covid Care Centres (SCCC) at various facilities like community hall, housing board homes, school and college hostels, across the state in 37 districts. Methods: As a cross-sectional study, we evaluated the clinical profile of the laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patient admitted in SCCC, Theni district, Tamil Nadu, India, which was opened on 8 May 2021. Results: During this month, 585 COVID-19 positive patients were admitted. Among them 60.9% were males, 39.1% were females. 40% of the admitted patients were in the age the group 31-50 years. 13% of the patient had at least one of the co-morbid condition and 80% were symptomatic with fever 40% and cough 36% as more common. Discussion: Patients were treated with the Siddha system of medicine adhering to the guidelines and were discharged after 10 days treatment. Nearly 4% who required further medical treatment observing their clinical condition and SpO2 levels were referred to the nearby medical college hospital. Conclusion: This study illustrated that SCCC offered appropriate clinical triaging and daily monitoring and hence it was considered as safe alternative to medical institutions during the pandemic.