In the wake of experts warning a possible surge in positive cases in the next week, district in-charge secretary for Dharwad Ravikumar Surpur has asked the district officials to focus on procuring medical liquid oxygen (MLO) apart from stepping up testing. Chairing a review meeting of the District Health Task Force at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Dharwad on Tuesday, Mr. Surpur asked the Health Department officials to keep an eye on medical infrastructure in government and private hospitals and also take steps to ensure adequate quantity of medicine.
The district in-charge secretary asked the district administration to take stock of medical liquid oxygen available in private and government hospitals and maintain buffer stock. “All preparations should be made to ensure uninterrupted supply of medical liquid oxygen to patients admitted in ICUs and HDUs (high dependency units)”, he said.
He said that the Technical Advisory Committee has recommended stepping uptesting and accordingly, tele-triaging, which involved screening patients remotely to determine their condition and the care needed, mobile-triaging, tracing the primary and secondary contacts of the infected and isolating them either in home quarantine or COVID Care Centres should be given priority .
He also stressed the need for utilising the services of medical professionals who had worked effectively in checking the spread of the pandemic in during the first and second wave. Anticipating a spike in cases, steps to increase beds in hospitals and set up COVID Care Centres should be taken, he said.
Vaccines for teens
Along with all these measures, a vaccination drive for teenagers in the age group of 15 to 18 should be stepped up, particularly in backward classes and minority hostels and schools, he said.
To reduce the burden on KIMS Hospital in Hubballi, medical infrastructure and better healthcare facilities should be ensured at district and taluk hospitals and also primary health centres, he said.
Briefing about the preparations made so far, Deputy Commissioner Nitesh Patil said that as the positivity rate in the district has gone up, all medical infrastructure have been kept ready to face any eventuality. A special drive to test police officials and the family members will be launched on Wednesday, he said.
Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner Labhu Ram, Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Panchayat B. Susheela, Superintendent of Police P. Krishnakant, District Health Officer Yashwanath Madinkar and other officials took part in the meeting.
