“A mechanism wherein citizens can call and get ambulance and a bed in a transparent manner needs to be operationalised. The call centres, district or state-level dashboards/portals can play an important role in organising the same,”
New Delhi:
To tackle a possible surge in COVID-19 cases, the Centre advised all states and Union territories to initiate the process of setting up makeshift hospitals and to constitute special teams to monitor patients in home isolation.
In a letter to all chief secretaries, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said it is imperative to re-emphasise the significance of timely and swift upgradation of health infrastructure in all states and UTs.
“This becomes all the more important since with the sudden increase in cases, we may start seeing a stressed health infrastructure,” he said.
To address potential surge in cases with a view to ensure preparedness, the Centre has asked states to initiate creation of field or makeshift hospitals to augment availability of health infrastructure.
“This can be done with coordination with DRDO and CSIR as well as the private sector, corporations, NGOs, etc. This will aid the process of rapid creation of field hospitals or temporary hospital set-ups,” Bhushan said.
The Centre also said that states may also consider leveraging hotel rooms and other accommodations linked with the COVID dedicated hospitals in government and private sector to cater to patients having mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19, as was also done in some states during the earlier surge in cases.
“A large number of positive cases may be eligible for home isolation. These cases would require effective follow up and a clearly defined mechanism for prompt shifting to a health facility in case of deterioration in their health situation,” Bhushan said.
He said it is particularly important that all states should monitor their home isolation protocol and its actual implementation at the field level.
“Special teams be constituted to monitor all home isolation cases, call centres/control rooms must aid outbound calling for monitoring such patients and ensuring that all such cases can be shifted to an appropriate health facility through dedicated ambulances,” he added.
“A mechanism wherein citizens can call and get ambulance and a bed in a transparent manner needs to be operationalised. The call centres, district or state-level dashboards/portals can play an important role in organising the same,” he said.
Bhushan said states are also requested to ensure that the existing Covid dedicated health infrastructure is revisited and necessary action to ensure its operational readiness be taken.
“A clear focus on rural areas and pediatric cases must also be maintained. States need to regularly review the availability of required logistics, oxygen availability and buffer stock of drugs across all health facilities in the state,” he said.
To contain the spread of infection, the implementation of containment activities at the field level is essential, he said.
“Need for effective contact tracing coupled with quarantine of contacts, including facility quarantine for high risk and comorbid contacts, shall be taken up. Sufficient number of quarantine facilities shall accordingly be planned across the state,” Bhushan said.
India has logged 161 fresh Omicron cases, taking their tally in the country to 1,431, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
The 1,431 cases of the new variant of the coronavirus have been detected across 23 states and union territories so far, and 488 of these have either recovered or migrated.
Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of 454 cases, followed by Delhi with 351, Kerala 118 and Gujarat 115.
The daily rise in COVID-19 cases crossed the 16,000-mark in the country after around 65 days, taking the infection tally to 3,48,61,579, while the count of active cases increased to 1,04,781, according to the data updated at 8 am.
India saw 22,775 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 4,81,080 with 220 daily fatalities, the data stated.
A total of 22,431 new coronavirus infections were reported in a span of 24 hours last on October 6, while the active case count was recorded above one lakh last on November 30.
Maharashtra
The imposition of lockdown in the state was not being discussed at present, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Saturday.
Maharashtra on Friday reported 8,067 new coronavirus cases, 50 per cent more than the day before. Disaster management minister Vijay Wadettiwar had said the day before that the “stage of fresh lockdown” was nearing, but the decision will be taken by the chief minister. “Decision of lockdown is not under discussion currently. The government will take decision about restrictions by taking into consideration the case positivity rate, hospital bed occupancy and oxygen consumption,” Tope told reporters.
“If the daily (medical) oxygen requirement crosses 700 metric tons, then the state will go into lockdown automatically,” he said.
Tope was here to attend a function to mark the 39th anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi Mission educational trust. “Currently we have imposed some restrictions on social gatherings. If it brings the virus spread under control, well and good. Otherwise we will have to impose stricter restrictions,” the health minister added.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will hold a meeting of top officials in this regard soon, he said.
Finding out the exact figures of Omicron and Delta cases was important in the present situation, and at least one genome sequencing lab was needed in each of the administrative divisions of the state, he added.
Delhi reported 2,716 new COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours, witnessing its highest single-day spike since May 2021. As per a bulletin issued by the health department on Saturday, the positivity rate for the day mounted to 3.64 per cent. A total of 74,622 samples were tested during the last 24 hours, up from 73,590 on Friday.
With this, the total tally of COVID-19 cases in the national capital has gone up to 14,50,927. During the last 24 hours, 765 people recovered from the infection, taking the total recoveries in the state to 14,19,459.
One death was recorded during the last 24 hours, taking the death tally in Delhi to 25,108. There are currently 6,360 active COVID-19 cases in the national capital. Out of these, 3,248 are currently in home isolation.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday said whether further Covid-related restrictions need to be imposed in the national capital will be reviewed as hospital admissions are less, despite a rapid rise in coronavirus cases.
He also said that in view of the current situation, more than 3,000 beds have been prepared for children.
In a massive surge, Delhi on Saturday recorded 2,716 fresh Covid cases, the highest single-day rise since May 21, and one death while the positivity rate mounted to 3.64 per cent, according to data shared by the health department.