Health Minister Visits Hospital in Delhi…
On Tuesday, 27 December 2022, Hospitals across the country will hold a drill to assess their preparedness to tackle any spike in Coronavirus cases. The exercise will be led by health ministers of the different states.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya oversaw the drill at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital. "Such exercises would help our operational readiness and will also help in filling gaps if any. It will consequently strengthen our public health response," Mr. Mandaviya had said at a meeting with Indian Medical Association (IMA) yesterday.
The drill will focus on parameters such as availability of health facilities in all districts, capacity of isolation beds, oxygen-supported beds, ICU (intensive care unit) beds and ventilator-supported beds in hospitals.
It will also focus on human resource capacity in terms of healthcare professionals trained in Covid management and healthcare professionals skilled in ventilator management and operation of medical oxygen plants.
Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had written to all states and Union Territories last week, asking them to hold the drill today itself.
The second wave brought the health infrastructure to its knees, throwing up scenes of patients struggling to breathe due to lack of medical oxygen and relatives struggling to find hospital beds for their family.
The Delhi government has approved a budget of Rs. 104 crore for hospitals to buy general medicines as part of preparations to deal with any Covid emergency.
Delhiites will be able to access actual data on the availability of beds, oxygen cylinders and ventilators on a government portal, starting from today, news agency PTI quoted officials as saying.
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