Amid projections and concerns of a possible third wave of Covid and its impact on children, District Patiala has set up two task forces besides an expert group. Divulging the details after taking stock of all the preparedness related to possible third wave of Covid, Deputy Commissioner Kumar Amit said that we have learnt a lot from the second wave and to overcome the issues cropped up during the second wave, we have to take utmost care for gearing up for the possible third wave. He said that the district has formed a District Level Task force and a Pediatric Task Force besides a Pediatric Expert Group of doctors.“The District Level Task Force will monitor the overall arrangements and activities while the Pedatrict Task Force to ensure preparation for Covid-19 cases in Children and will take immediate action as the cases come to fore. The Pediatric Expert Group comprised of senior doctors will provide technical inputs on treatment of children affected by Covid-19 and will assist and guide the District Level Task Force,” he added.Stressing on the need of enhancing existing L-2, L-3 bed capacity by minimum 15 percent for the third wave, the deputy commissioner said that special attention would be given to the children in this enhanced capacity. He asked the health officials to keep the entire medical infrastructure in place keeping in view the pediatric need. He said that we should gear up for implementing a surge plan, in case of sudden increase in Covid infections, in case of possible third wave.
He directed the Pediatric Expert Committee to visit the government and private hospitals of the district for mapping the required infrastructure.Setting a time frame of 15 days for training and other preparation, for doctors, ANMs and Anaganwari Workers, he said that we should complete all the basics till the framing of SOPs by the state. Addressing categorically to DEO, DPO and DSSO, Mr Kumar Amit said that in case of opening of educational institutions in coming days, there may be a big challenge to save the students from the infection by adding that we would have to sensitise the parents also to keep close tab on their wards and report the nearby health person or facility, in case of appearing on any symptom of Covid.Underlining the importance of testing and keeping the pace of sampling at 4500 to 5000 daily, Mr Kumar Amit further said that this would be helpful to detect the infection cases and contain the particular areas in advance to curb the spread.Citing the example of shortage of required medicines such as Remdesivir and Amphotericin during the second wave, he said that this time as soon as we got the protocols from the state regarding treatment, we should have the stock of requisite drugs in our district besides basic medicines. The Deputy Commissioner directed to keep strict vigil on demand of medical oxygen, keeping in view future need and said that a strict audit of oxygen use would be ensured to stop wastage, if any. Similarly, private hospitals would also be sounded on alert, in case of third wave and government capping on Covid treatment should be followed strictly, he added.The district officials who were part of the meeting, included ADC (D) Dr. Preeti Yadav, ADC (G) Pooja Sayal Grewal, Civil Surgeon Dr Satinder Singh, District Immunisation Officer Dr Veenu Goyal, District Epidemiologist Dr Sumeet Singh, DMC Dr Sajila Khan, Assistant Commissioner (UT) Ms Chandra Jyoti, Extra Assistant Commissioners (UT) Ms Jasleen Bhullar and Jagnoor Singh Grewal.