Odisha: Chief Secretary directs to vaccinate doctors and health workers on priority

Bhubaneswar, Jan 9: Districts are all set to combat the Omicron situation and provide proper treatment to the infected people. This was known from a district wise review taken by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra on digital mode from Lokseba Bhawan conference hall wherein all the collectors appraised their ground level preparedness for the third wave of Covid-19.  Taking a detail review, Chief Secretary Mahapatra directed to insulate the doctors, nurses and health workers detailed for Covid duty with booster dose on priority. Mahapatra also directed that all Covid hospitals and Covid care centres should put in place help desk system for communication with family members and relatives of the patients. Emphasizing upon empathetic treatment to the patients, Chief Secretary directed that no patient should feel neglected in hospitals. All should be attended with much care, and love. The family members also should be communicated about condition of the patients regularly.  Additional Chief Secretary Health and Family Welfare Raj Kumar Sharma said that all facilities and provisions put in place for combating the second wave should be reactivated with full force. He also asked the Collectors to recruit the retired doctors and nurses locally as per the requirement. The CDMOs and public health officers were asked to go ahead with booster dose vaccination with the already available vaccines in all districts.  Development Commissioner Paradeep Jena assured of all sorts of cooperation among the State and Central PSUs and Covid hospitals. The Collectors were asked to go ahead with tripartite agreements like first and second wave.   The Chief Secretary asked the Collectors about any additional requirement; and, directed health and family welfare department to provide those on priority basis. Mahapatra also directed the Collectors to visit all Covid hospitals personally and look to the arrangements like availability of medicine, man power, instruments, pathological test facilities, oxygen, seamless admission of the patients, proper treatment, trained doctors, nurse and health workers communication with family members of the patients etc.  Discussions in the meeting showed that a total number of 7181 oxygen supported beds, around 1000 pediatric beds, 2024 ICUs and HDUs, and 874 ventilators were already made available in all districts.  As of now, 16,117 active positive cases are there out of whom 15,640 patients are being treated in home isolation. They are being managed by the rapid response team members. They have not needed hospitalization. The present trend shows that around 97% of the patients can be managed without actual hospitalization. Only around 3% of the available beds, 11% of the ICUs and 3% of the ventilators are being used.