MP prepares for third COVID-19 wave with ICUs for kids
The Madhya Pradesh government will set up 360 ICU beds for children in hospitals across the state as part of its preparations for the third wave of COVID-19, BJP Leader and Minister Vishwas Kailash Sarang said on Monday. Health experts had recently warned of a third wave of coronavirus infection in the country, which could also affect children. Here are more details.
Preparations to tackle third wave were reviewed on Sunday
On Sunday, the State Medical Education Minister Sarang held a meeting via video conference with deans and hospital superintendents of various government medical colleges and other senior officials to review the preparations to be made to tackle the third wave.
50-bed dedicated ICU for children at Hamidia Hospital
"As part of the plan, a 50-bed dedicated ICU for children will be set up in Bhopal's Hamidia Hospital, which is associated with the Government Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal," Sarang said. He directed officials to make sufficient stock of medicines, injections, and consumables available in these ICUs. He said that 1,000 oxygen concentrators will be made available in 13 government medical colleges of MP.
1,267 more beds to be added in state-run hospitals
"During the meeting, it was also decided to add 1,267 beds, including 767 ICU/HDU (high dependency units) beds, in state-run hospitals in the first phase of preparation for the COVID-19 third wave," Sarang said. The minister has directed officials to immediately procure all necessary equipment for setting up these facilities. Funds for purchasing these items will be provided to the medical colleges soon.
MP recorded 11,051 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday
On Sunday, Madhya Pradesh reported 11,051 new COVID-19 cases and 86 fatalities, taking the tally of infections to 6,71,763 and the death toll to 6,420, as per the official data. The state has so far recorded 5,56,430 COVID-19 recoveries.
Third wave of COVID-19 is inevitable: Experts
Notably, the top scientific adviser to the government said in a statement last week that the third wave of COVID-19 is "inevitable." Speaking at the Union Health Ministry's briefing on Wednesday, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Centre, Dr. K Vijay Raghavan said that India should be prepared for future waves of the outbreak.
India has recorded over 2.4 lakh COVID-19 deaths so far
According to the Union Health Ministry, till Monday morning, India reported a total of 2,26,62,575 COVID-19 cases. The death toll has reached 2,46,116. However, several experts and healthcare professionals have pointed out that COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 deaths are under-recorded.
