Punjabwill initiated the 3rd Sentinel sero-surveillance survey, especially focused onchildren in the age group of 6- 17 years, this month, ahead of the imminentthird wave, for which Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesdayannounced Rs 331 crore in addition to the money already allotted for EmergencyCOVID Response.
Withthis, Punjab will become the only state in the country to get achildren-dominated sero survey conducted to assess the prevalence of theinfection among under-18s. The Chief Minister also ordered establishment of apaediatric unit in each District and one Centre of Excellence in Paediatricsfor the State.
Thegovernment, he further announced, will also establish LMO storage tanks inevery district to ensure 24X7 availability of medical grade oxygen. Medical gaspipeline systems will also be set up at each District, Sub-division and CHClevel, he disclosed, also announcing the establishment of 17 additional RTPCRlabs that shall be established. ICU beds in Government Hospitals shall also beincreased to 142, and a hub & scope model for telemedicine andteleconsultation shall also be established, said Captain Amarinder.
TheChief Minister said the outcomes of the 3rd Sentinel sero-surveillance surveywill be utilised to determine further localised restrictions as the stateprepares for the third wave. GIS based surveillance and prevention tools willbe used with an auto trigger mechanism for localised restrictions, hedisclosed.
DrKK Talwar disclosed, in response to a query from the Chief Minister, that inthe first and second wave, 10% of those infected were under 18, and while therewas no concrete data to support such a projection, the state was preparing tohandle more cases of children in the third wave.
HealthSecretary Hussan Lal apprised the Chief Minister that the process ofmodifications in COVA had started for capturing of required parameters, linkedto sample collection and reporting system outside ICMR system. The same waslikely to be functional in a week.
TheChief Minister asked the Health Department to expedite recruitments for all postsfor which Cabinet approval has already been taken. He noted that advertisementfor 481 Specialists had already been issued by the Health Department forwalk-in interviews on 31st July. The Medical Education and Research Departmenthas also begun the process of filling up its vacancies in the coming month, headded.
CaptainAmarinder expressed satisfaction over the strategy for preparation of the thirdwave, pointing out that testing has been maintained at around 40,000- 45,000 aday, with special focus on high density areas and vulnerable population.Contact tracing has also been maintained at 18 per positive patient.
Hesaid he was happy to note that data cells have been activated in each District.The newly recruited Community Medicine Specialists posted in each District mustbe immediately given charge of these Data Cells, he ordered.
TheChief Minister directed that the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) Lab at GMCHPatiala, coming up with the support of PATH, should become functional thismonth. The equipment was likely to be received by 25th July and operations wereexpected to commence by the end of the month, he was informed. The meeting wasfurther informed that the concerned Staff from VRDL Patiala has gone to NEERI,Nasik for hands on training for 3 days for WGS testing.
HealthMinister Balbir Sidhu and Medical Education & Research Minister OP Sonibriefed the Chief Minister on the situation in hospitals etc.
DrKK Talwar informed the meeting that Punjab was currently in a comfortablesituation though the fear of a third wave continued, with ICMR predicting it byend of August or start of September. The situation may not be as bad as in thesecond wave unless a new variant comes before that, he noted. He, however,stressed the need for extreme caution with crowds building up even as caseswere on the rise in some states.