Bengal takes up 6-point agenda to tackle surge

MP | 27 Dec 2022 | Kolkata: On a day when two foreign returnees, including a British national, tested positive for Covid at the Kolkata airport, the state government has taken up a six-point agenda to tackle the Covid situation apprehending a further surge. 

The state government has given instructions to ensure continuous monitoring of critical care infrastructure, including ventilators, so that the equipment is run efficiently during peak time. Genome sequencing on samples from both private and government hospitals has been given the utmost importance. 

Hospitals will soon be asked to reactivate their Covid units. More than one lakh testing kits are being purchased for effective antigen and RT-PCR testing. Hospitals will receive instructions for posting doctors and nurses across the OPDs for immediate isolation and testing of patients. 

All oxygen plants will also be urged to ensure adequate production capacity. On Monday, the Trinamool Congress tweeted about the six-point agenda of the state government saying that under the leadership of CM Mamata Banerjee, "Bengal is prepared to face any surge in Covid cases head-on". 

Incidentally, a woman passenger, a British national, had arrived in Kolkata from Kuala Lumpur. She tested positive and has been shifted to an isolation ward of the state-run Beliaghata ID Hospital. It was learnt that the other passenger is a male who came from Dubai. He is said to be a resident of Bihar and returned on Monday. 

Contract tracing has been initiated. Those who came close to them have been quarantined. An RT-PCR test has been conducted on the British passenger. Samples of both passengers have been sent for genome sequencing. The development comes even as samples of four foreigners who tested positive for Covid at the Buddhist pilgrimage town of Gaya were sent for genome sequencing on Sunday. 

Three of the four foreigners who tested positive in Gaya on Sunday are from Thailand, the fourth is from Myanmar. In another development, the state health department is going to conduct a mock drill at MR Bangur Hospital, Beliaghata ID hospital and Sambhunath Pandit Hospital on Tuesday to check Covid preparedness. Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a meeting with several states on December 23 and had said a mock drill would be conducted in hospitals across the country to test the Covid emergency preparedness. 

It aims to check emergency responses to deal with Covid cases. The state government, following the Centre's instructions, has increased genome sequencing of Covid positive samples. State health department officials have been carrying out meetings with the district officials to take stock of the preparedness. 

The Bengal government has written to the Centre asking for doses of Covid vaccine. A senior health department official said that all hospitals have been alerted. Coordination meetings are going on with the districts at regular intervals. Airport officials have also been alerted. Covid infection in the state is still on the lower side, said the official. Bengal on Monday registered three Covid cases. 

No death was reported on Monday. The total number of active cases stood at 51 on Monday while the recovery rate has gone up to 98.98 per cent. Around 42 patients are in home isolation whereas only nine are undergoing treatment at various hospitals. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/bengal-takes-up-6-point-agenda-to-tackle-surge-503539