State prepared for Covid third wave: Odisha Health Minister

Bhubaneswar, July 4 The Odisha government has made necessary preparations to tackle the possible third wave of Covid-19, State health minister Naba Kishore Das said on Sunday.

"My department has prepared an SOP on June 17, 2021 and shared it with all collectors, municipal commissioners and heads of medical colleges," Das said.

Children are likely to be affected more during the possible third wave as predicted by public health experts. Therefore, the government is providing training to doctors and healthcare workers from Community Health Centre level, he said.

The minister informed that all the District Headquarters Hospitals (DHHs) and Sub-Divisional Hospitals (SDHs) have been directed to reserve at least 10 beds for isolation of the suspected cases and will transfer the symptomatic patients to the appropriate Covid hospital.

Moreover, about two to four beds to be reserved in each of the Community Health Centres (CHCs) for such patients, he further stated.

Additional beds, ICU facilities, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU) and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are being created in various government healthcare facilities including seven State-run medical colleges and hospitals for the treatment of the Covid infected children.

The State has also decided to create a designated pediatric wing in the existing Covid hospitals for better and safe management of cases as strict isolation of Covid-19 positive pediatric cases may not be possible in general wards, which may lead to transmission of infection to non-Covid children, sources said.

One attendant will also be allowed to stay in the hospital. The superintendents of all government medical colleges and chief district medical officers have been directed to keep sufficient stocks of the required medicines, consumables and medical oxygen for the treatment of children.