Govind Karjol, Minister appointed to supervise COVID-19 management in Belagavi district, has asked officers to prepare for the third wave of the epidemic.
At a meeting on Friday, he said the State government would release additional funds to manage the third wave. He asked officers to send a detailed proposal to the government including the need for beds, oxygen, medicines and equipment. He also asked officials to document the availability of beds, equipment, medicines and oxygen supply in private hospitals.
“Officials tell me that we have 418 beds for children in the government district and taluk hospitals. However, we need a count of the beds reserved for children in private hospitals. Government officers should not only seek information from private hospitals, but also inspect them to assess and ascertain the facilities available to them, as per provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897,” the Minister said.
The district administration should also send a list of qualified doctors and paramedical staff to the State government and indicate scarcity. The government would re-allot trained doctors from neighbouring districts to hospitals that need them. However, paramedical staff units should be prepared in the district by training local youth, he said.
He asked Regional Commissioner Amlan Aditya Biswas to see that the oxygen plant in the district government hospital was ready in time. He suggested that officers could sanction works of setting up oxygen plants to local industries. “You can issue work orders to local units. The State government will approve them,” he told officers. Mr. Biswas said that local youth would be trained to be paramedical staff under the Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub Plan programmes. The RC also asked officers to procure immunity boosting medicines for children.
Figures so far
S.V. Muniyal, District Health and Family Welfare Officer said that the number of active cases had gone down to 496. As many as 5.6 lakh tests have been conducted and the positivity rate is around 0.84% and death rate was around 2.34%. Over 300 of the 460 black fungus case were cured. The disease had claimed 49 lives, he said.
I.P. Gadad, officer in charge of immunisation, said that a total of 18 lakh persons have received the vaccination. This includes 30,000 people in relief centres. Vaccines have been given in border villages also, he said.
