Shillong, July 5: As the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hits the state hard, a suspicious health service is now tidying up its house and making all necessary preparations to deal with a third wave virus anticipated.
“We are better prepared for the third wave. It is for this reason that the tests were not lowered and that containment measures were maintained. There is no room for complacency, ”Principal Health Secretary Sampath Kumar said on Monday.
He said the department had sent samples for testing to determine if there was a case of Delta Plus variant infection in the state.
“We are preparing in terms of containment, treatment and establishment of oxygen plants and intensive care units, in addition to training medical teams on ventilators and continuous positive pressures (CPAP) to manage pediatric intensive care before the third wave, ”Kumar said. .
“We are setting up seven PICUs in the three regions of the state,” he said, noting that only the NEIGRIHMS and the children’s hospital have pediatric ICUs.
In addition to forming a special committee of medical experts to take all necessary measures to deal with cases of COVID in children and pregnant women, essential drugs like IvIG have been purchased, Kumar said.
A total of 7.5 lakh people were vaccinated out of the target population of 20 lakh over 18 years of age.
“We vaccinate around 13,000 people every day. People have now started to come forward. But the reluctance is still there among people due to rumors spread on social media, ”Kumar said.
He further said the state task force would hold a meeting on Wednesday with leaders of various faiths and religions to seek their cooperation in educating people about the vaccine.
He also said the state government had already received doses of Covaxin from Assam and the same dose was given as a second dose to returnees who had taken the first dose of Covaxin in other states.