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Capt sets target of 2 lakh shots per day in Punjab
The CM also directed the health department to ramp up sampling to 50,000 per day, besides vigorously pursuing contact tracing to 30 people per positive patient
With the Covid infection rate reaching 7.7% and the case fatality rate (CFR) hitting 2% in the state, chief minister (CM) Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday set a vaccination target of two lakh shots per day.
The CM also directed the health department to ramp up sampling to 50,000 per day, besides vigorously pursuing contact tracing to 30 people per positive patient.
Expressing concern over the high CFR rate, the CM said these deaths, many of which are avoidable with timely treatment, pain him. He directed chief secretary Vini Mahajan to undertake public awareness campaign to motivate people to approach hospitals at early stages.
The CM said the death audit should be done by all districts and private facilities, which are not participating in the expert group discussions, should be encouraged to do so.
Amarinder, who was informed by the health department that the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, was refusing to admit patients from Punjab despite being referred through proper channels, said he would take up the matter with the Prime Minister at Thursday’s video conferencing meeting and would request him to direct the hospital to reserve at least 50 ICU beds for patients referred by the state government.
He also asked the chief secretary to address the issue of vaccination hesitancy by undertaking well-designed media campaigns.
The CM said he would again urge the Union government for relaxation in the age criteria for vaccinating people under the age of 45 years in areas showing weekly doubling of positivity rate. He reiterated his demand that the Union government should allow vaccinations to all potential superspreaders, students above 18 years, teachers, councillors and sarpanches.
On vaccination supply, the chief secretary informed the CM that the Union government had assured that the state would not face any shortage.
Director general of police Dinkar Gupta informed the CM that all districts were taking penal action for violation of Covid protocols and so far, 2.03 lakh people had been taken for RT-PCR tests after they were found not wearing masks in public. He also said that 43,000 challans have been with a collection of ₹3.6 crore fine. A total of 206 FIRs have been registered and 246 people arrested for violations, the GP said.
Catering to maximum patients from Punjab: PGI
In response to the Punjab government’s demand for more ICU beds, PGIMER, Chandigarh, has said maximum number of patients treated at the institute are from Punjab.
The statement came after the Punjab CM said that he will ask the PM to direct the institute to reserve at least 50 ICU beds for patients referred by the state government
The annual census of PGIMER for 2020 shows that it provided tertiary-level medical care to patients from five states with proportion of Punjab being the highest, according to the institute’s press release.
PGIMER admits only severe and critically-ill Covid patients in the NHE Covid Block. Presently 50% of the total 166 patients admitted to the PGIMER, belong to Punjab. All ICU beds in the Covid Block are full and 50% of these are occupied by patients from Punjab, the release said.
