The State government has given approval to a proposal to set up a RT-PCR laboratory for Chikkodi region, Deputy Chief Minister and district in-charge Govind Karjol said in Belagavi on Wednesday.
At a meeting, he asked Public Works Department officers to identify an existing building and hand it over to the Health Department in two days, to begin tests.
He asked Deputy Commissioner M.G. Hiremath to ensure that all necessary equipment and consumables are made available at the new laboratory immediately. Testing, treatment and vaccination are the only ways to deal with the epidemic. “We have to do that in as many places as possible,” he said.
He asked the Deputy Commissioner to appoint on temporary basis, private doctors or those who had retired for treatment of black fungus patients in government hospitals. Each taluk should have a special COVID ward for children as there are reports that the third wave, if any, could hit children badly. The district hospital should have a dedicated children COVID ward, he said.
Mr. Hiremath said that the rate of death in the district was 1.6%. A total of 976 persons are under treatment in government and private hospitals. As much as 16 kilo litres of oxygen is being used per day. There is no scarcity of oxygen in the district, he said.
The positivity rate is on the decline. Rapid Antigen Tests have been introduced in areas with higher positivity rates. The vaccine stock in the district is enough to vaccinate 30,000 persons per day. It will be increased based on availability. Of the 204 black fungus cases in the district, 136 are in the Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences. They are improving, Mr. Hiremath said.
Regional Commissioner Amlan Aditya Biswas said that two surgeons are being deputed from Gadag and Hubballi for black fungus operations. Each operation takes two to three hours and there is a need for more number of surgeons in BIMS, he added.
