Hospitals are checking equipment, oxygen plants are being tested and vaccination centers are once again seeing people amid fears of a return to the Covid pandemic.
It is only after the arrival of the new subtype XBB.1.16 of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 pandemic that cases of infection have started increasing once again. Along with this, people are reaching the vaccination centers to get the booster dose which they did not get. In recent times, there is also a boom in the weekly vaccination figures.
According to the data available on the government’s Covin portal, 45,029 people got vaccinated in seven days till March 15. By March 31, this figure increased by 38 per cent to 62,339. Vaccinations often drop on weekends, so seven days of data were used to draw conclusions with ease. The weekend figures were included in the daily figures to allow for a more accurate comparison.
The cases of Kovid infection are at their highest level after September 30, 2022. On Sunday, 3,824 new cases were reported, before that on September 30 last year, 3,947 cases were reported.
The infection rate, that is, the rate of those found infected per 100 tests, is in double digits in some districts. This is being seen in many districts of Delhi. This rate is 21.55 per cent in South Delhi, 21.15 per cent in East Delhi and 17.77 per cent in Central Delhi. The rate was 16.9 per cent in Mumbai suburban district of Maharashtra and 11.23 per cent in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. These figures are from March 26 to April 1.
Delhi’s Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Hospital has about 2,000 beds, out of which about 450 beds are reserved for Covid patients. The hospital has got its oxygen and PSA plants inspected. Currently there are eight Covid patients admitted out of which one is on ventilator. These patients are in the age group of 25 to 65. Suresh Kumar, the medical director of the hospital, says, ‘At present the number of infected is increasing but there is no wave-like situation. Although we are ready.
Fortis Healthcare is regularly running its oxygen plants to ensure they remain operational. This hospital chain has a network of 28 hospitals with an oxygen generation capacity of 4,000 liters per minute. In addition there are gas cylinder banks and liquid medical oxygen tanks.
Dr. Vishnu Panigrahi, Group Head, Medical Strategy & Operations, Fortis Healthcare, says they are gearing up for the upcoming exercise to be held on April 10 and 11. Whether it is related to oxygen plant, equipment or employees.
The Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals, located in North India, has also called all its chiefs to sit and ask them to be prepared for any situation. Shuchin Bajaj, founder director of the group, said, “If the virus changes, we are ready but I don’t think Omicron will lead to more recruitment.” We have enough PPE kits, oxygen and medicines here.
The Kerala government issued new guidelines on Saturday as the infection cases reached 4,375. All government and private hospitals have been asked to ensure that Covid patients get treatment. Officers at the district level have been instructed to send samples for genome sequencing.
Apart from this, masks have been made mandatory for diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, heart and kidney patients. According to sources, new orders for masks and PPE kits are being placed in various districts so that the state is prepared in case of a wave like Kovid. Could
Masks have been made mandatory for people above 60 years of age, healthcare workers, patients and other people visiting hospitals. According to the source, there is no problem regarding oxygen so far and the state is fully prepared to deal with any situation.
