Withprojections of new cases set to double in about 64 days at the present rate ofgrowth, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday ordered Covidtesting in the state to be increased to at least 60,000 tests per day, whilevirtually inaugurating a Children’s Covid Ward as well as PSA Oxygen plants inLudhiana and Faridkot.
Reviewingthe state’s preparation an imminent third wave, Captain Amarinder directed theHealth Department to undertake priority sentinel testing for OPD/IPD patientsat Government and private hospitals, travellers at entry points, Governmentoffices, industries and labour colonies, staff at marriage palaces,restaurants, pubs, bars, gyms etc. Based on this, Districts should formulatestrategies for micro-containment zones, he said, noting with satisfaction thatGIS based surveillance and prevention tool, with an auto trigger mechanism forlocalised restrictions, is now live in all Districts and will help guide localrestrictions, if needed.
TheCovid Paediatric Ward at Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, has 5 Paediatric IntensiveCare Units (PICUs) & 08 Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children(MISC) beds. The advanced ultra-modern PICUs are comparable with the best inthe country, said the Chief Minister, thanking Vijay Munjal of Hero EcotechLtd, Ludhiana, and Dr. Bishav Mohan fromDMC&H, for donating equipment worth Rs. 20 lacs. The doctors and nurses have been trained withthe help of Dr. Bishav Mohan.
Theward has ECHO & Cardiology backup from DMCH, Dr. Rupesh Aggarwal(Singapore) for Project O2 with Zeiss, India, donated 5 PICU beds. Otherinfrastructure facilities were provided by the Punjab Government. The ChiefMinister announced that the government would be augmenting the PICU and level 2paediatric beds capacity in all 23 Districts and 4 GMCHs to 1,104 paediatricbeds.
ThePSA Oxygen plants in Ludhiana inaugurated by the Chief Minister include 1000LPM each at ESI Hospital and Civil Hospital, and 500 LPM at Urban HealthCentre, Vardhman. He also inaugurated a 2000 litre PSA plant, sponsored by SPSOberoi, at Baba Farid MCH Faridkot
CaptainAmarinder said a total of 76 PSA Plants(41 GoI supported and 35 donor supported) are being installed in the State,with 48832 LPM oxygen generationcapacity. With installation of these plants, the State’s dependency on oxygensupply from outside Punjab will substantially reduce, he said, adding thatpreparations were on to augment the oxygen capacity to 560 MT, including 235 MTof LMO and around 328 MT from PSA plants, ASUs and Oxygen Concentrators. Thisincludes 50 MT oxygen for non COVID emergency situations, in order to ensurethat non Covid patients do not suffer, he added. At the peak of second wave,Punjab was utilising about 308 MT Oxygen.
TheChief Minister also asked the Health and Medical Education departments to speedup augmentation of the health infrastructure and medical supplies to deal withthe the third wave of COVID-19. The State Government would be spending morethan Rs.1000 Crore in the current year for this purpose, under the EmergencyCOVID response package-II (ECRP), Fifteenth Finance Commission Grant, Disaster ManagementFund.
Underthe Emergency ECRP, Rs. 331.48 Cr, in the ratio of 60% Center Share and 40%State Share, is being spent in Punjab to establish Pediatric Care Units in allDistrict Hospitals and Medical Colleges. The meeting was informed that 20bedded units would be set up at 41 SDH & 89 CHC and 6 bedded units at 153PHC in the State. A Pediatric Centre of Excellence is also being set up in theMedical College Amrtisar. The Government has also decided to set-up RT-PCRtesting labs in all districts of Punjab. The meeting was further informed thatthese labs are already operational in Medical Colleges of Amritsar, Patiala andFaridkot.
The15th Finance Commission has recommended Rs 2130.71 crore for the state ofPunjab as Health grants with Rural and Urban components. Rs. 401 Crore has beensanctioned for the State in the current year. The grant shall be utilized for strengthening of urban and rural healthinfrastructure, including provision of 63 Diagnostic tests at PHC level and 14at Sub centres level.
DrKK Talwar informed the meeting that the state was fully geared to tackle thethird wave, and the situation was currently stable.