Amid the COVID-19 lockdown,a 65-year-old patient suffering from paralysis was shifted from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to the city for treatment at a hospital here in an air ambulance, hospital sources said on Wednesday.Based on a request from the patient, Durgaprasad Hegde from Mangaladevi in the city, the Coimbatore district collector granted him permission to fly to his hometown, after getting approval from the union civil aviation ministry and holding talks with the Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner.Hegde was undergoing treatment for paralysis in a private hospital at Coimbatore for the last few weeks.The air ambulance carrying the patient and his wife took off from Coimbatore at around 6.45 pm Tuesday and landed at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) here by 7.45 pm, sources said.The patient was taken to a private hospital here and necessary medical tests were conducted in view of COVID-19 regulations.His throat swab was sent for a test to the laboratory at Wenlock hospital and treatment will begin after getting the result, hospital sources said.For the first time after the domestic air space was closed in view of the COVID-19 lockdown, the civil aviation ministry had on April 20 allowed operation of medical evacuation flights on condition that only two attendants besides medical staff shall accompany a patient.It was also directed that the flight operator should produce a letter of consent from the state government or the district administration.
