J&K Government has directed the Health and Medical Education department here to constitute a committee for suggesting measures for tackling the third wave of COVID19 feared to hit India later this year.
A senior health official said that J&K Chief Secretary (CS) BVR Subramanium on Sunday issued a slew of directions regarding the extension of lockdown measures and better preparedness for future health emergencies. These directions, the official said, include “brain-storming for future waves of COVID19”.
“Health Department will constitute a Committee to suggest measures to tackle a possible third COVID wave,” the official said. He said in the previous meetings of the Government, the CS had sought suggestions from top officials in the medical colleges of the UT and from other institutes for creating a better infrastructure on ground for the Third Wave.
Many modelers have estimated a third wave of COVID19 to hit India around October 2021.
The other directions that have been passed include activation of 20,000 COVID Care Centre (CCC) beds for admitting COVID19 positive patients with “no or mild symptoms and those who cannot do home isolation”. However, the health department has also been urged to work out a feasibility plan to make oxygen supply available at some of the CCCs to address sudden oxygen requirements in positive cases.
Subramanium has asked the department to open the CCCs closer to rural areas in order to ease the access for the masses, the official said.
The Health Department has also been directed to ensure “establishment of Telemedicine arrangements in all districts to enable patients to call and consult doctors”. In addition, it has also been expected that COVID19 testing is made more targeted and focused on areas with high positivity and unvaccinated population.
The directions, the official said, come as part of the various measures that the Government is “taking on a daily basis” for the pandemic.