Odisha: Collectors asked to visit all Covid hospitals

Bhubaneswar, Jan 9 (IANS) As the Covid cases in Odisha are rising day by day, the state government has asked all collectors to personally visit all Covid hospitals in their respective districts and ensure availability of all required arrangements.Chief Secretary SC Mahapatra has given this direction to the collectors while holding a virtual meeting to review preparedness made to combat emerging third wave of Covid-19 here on Sunday.The collectors were directed to look into the arrangements like availability of medicine, man power, instruments, pathological test facilities, oxygen, trained doctors, nurse and health workers, etc, officials said.The collectors were further instructed to sign tripartite agreements like the first and the second wave for opening of the Covid hospitals.Mahapatra asked to open help desks at all Covid hospitals and Covid Care Centres for communication with family members and relatives of the admitted patients.He asked to insulate the doctors, nurses and healthcare workers engaged in Covid duty with booster dose on priority basis. He also asked the collectors to recruit the retired doctors and nurses locally as per the requirement.Sources said that a total of 7,181 oxygen supported beds, around 1,000 paediatric beds, 2,024 ICUs and HDUs, and 874 ventilators were already made available in all districts.As of now 16,117 active positive cases are there, out of which 15,640 patients are being treated in home isolation as they have not needed hospitalisation. They are being managed by the rapid response team members constituted in each district and urban local body (ULB), sources said.The present trend shows that around 97 per cent of the total patients in Odisha can be managed without actual hospitalisation. Only 3 per cent of the available beds, 11 per cent of the ICUs and 3 per cent of the ventilators are being used. The concerned officials have been directed to keep additional facilities in all readiness to be made available as and when required, they said.
--IANS bbm/pgh

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