Bhubaneswar: Odisha is fully geared to tackle Covid-19 third wave and all preparations in this regard have been completed informed Health & Family Welfare Minister Naba Kisore Das.
“Under the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the State government’s Health department has completed all preparations to tackle the third wave,” stated Das in a briefing for the press through virtual mode.
The Minister informed that his department after preparing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on this account has issued the same to District Collectors, Municipal Commissioners and Medical Colleges on June 17.
Since experts have opined that the third wave is going to affect mainly children and adolescents, the Minister said that a committee headed by the Director of Medical Education & Training has been constituted to tackle the situation.
As many as 1610 general beds, 610 ICU beds and a Covid block at Sishu Bhawan have been earmarked for paediatric patients, he said adding that arrangements have been made for breastfeeding corner also.
It has been also decided to open Covid Care facilities for children if the number of such patients increases, Das further said.
Similarly, instructions have been issued to reserve 2-4 beds for such patients at Community Health Centre (CHC) level, he added.
The Minister said in all the seven medical colleges 64 NICU, 94 HDU and 155 isolation beds have been arranged and in addition to that District Collectors have been directed to ensure availability of beds for children at district headquarters hospitals.
Further training has been imparted to healthcare personnel including nurses and doctors at the CHC level, he said.