Jai Ram Thakur directs officers to take timely measures to control spread of Coronavirus

Shimla : Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, while presiding over a meeting to review the Covid-19 situation in the State, directed the officers to take proper and timely measures to control the situation. He said that tangible results were coming out due to corona curfew as number of corona cases were declining, but the corona deaths were still a matter of concern. He said that effective strategy must be chalked out to bring down the deaths due to corona virus.Chief Minister said that ASHA workers must be provided adequate masks, sanitizers and gloves so that they could perform their duties in better way and without fear. He said that sufficient number of PPE kits must be provided at PHC level besides body bags and waste bags so that last rites of the covid-19 deceased could be performed according to protocols.Jai Ram Thakur said that special thrust must be laid on shifting the serious patients in home isolation to hospitals so that they could be provided timely treatment. He said that about 38 per cent deaths have been reported within 24 hours of admission in various hospitals. He said that similarly 7.7 per cent deaths have been reported in home isolation and 4.1 percent patients were brought dead. He said that ASHA workers and other health workers must keep constant vigil on situation of patients so that they could be shifted to the hospital if situation of the patients worsen.Chief Minister felt the need to strengthen the supply chain of medicines, oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders and other life saving drugs. He said that the Central Government has also increased oxygen quota of State to 40 MT. He said that State Government has enhanced storage capacity of oxygen by 25MT. He said that the State had only 2500 D-Type cylinders which have now been increased to 6500. He said that five cases of black fungus have been reported in the State out of which four have been operated.
Jai Ram Thakur said that vaccination process in the State was going smoothly. He said that till date about 22.88 lakh doses of vaccine had been administered to the people of the State. He said that for the vaccination of 18-44 years age group, although the Government of India has also recommended onsite registration and appointment but has left it to the State Government to decide opening up of onsite registration based on the local context. In order to avoid overcrowding at vaccination sites, he urged the youth to get them registered on COWIN app to avoid inconvenience.Chief Minister said that effective mechanism must also be evolved to ensure success of the campaign for detecting the covid-19 patients with any ILI symptoms. He said that this would not only help in timely detection of Covid patients but also check further spread of this virus. He said that MLAs and other elected representatives of PRIs and ULBs could play a vital role in making this campaign a success.Jai Ram Thakur also emphasised time bound distribution of home isolation kits to the Covid patients. He said that the Deputy Commissioners and Chief Medical officers must maintain proper coordination with the MLAs of their respective districts for proper distribution of the home isolation kits.Chief Minister said that proactive approach must also be adopted for ensuring timely preparation for tackling the third wave of corona virus if it happens so that the State was well equipped to meet out any eventuality. He said that Makeshift Hospitals under construction must be completed within time and these should be equipped with all required medical equipments.Secretary Health Amitabh Awasthi while welcoming the Chief Minister on the occasion, apprised the Chief Minister about the steps being taken by the department to check the spread of virus.Political Advisor to Chief Minister Trilok Jamwal, Chief Secretary Anil Khachi, Additional Chief Secretary J.C. Sharma, Director Urban Development Abid Hussian Sadiq, Mission Director, NHM Dr. Nipun Jindal, Special Secretary Arindam Chaudhary, Director Health Dr. B.B. Katoch, Principal IGMC Dr. Rajneesh Pathania and other officers attended the meeting.