PATNA
The state health department has been asked to formulate a fresh treatment protocol to deal with burgeoning load of Covid patients in view of the challenges the state is grappling with during the second wave of pandemic.
A special task force, led by industries director Panka Dixit, has been set up to monitor production of oxygen and its supply from the neighbouring states and ensure adequate availability of the vital gas to all hospitals, particularly those treating Covid patients.
This was decided on Tuesday at a meeting of the crisis management group (CMG) on Covid, led by Deepak Kumar, principal secretary to chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Officials said the treatment protocol would be changed in view of accelerated speed of virus infection among human being in its new avatar. The new treatment regime would stipulate early scanning of lungs and application of emergency drugs.
The health department is likely to issue a fresh set of standard operation protocol very soon. Along with it, the district authorities have been asked to refurbish all health centres across the state with necessary infrastructure so that treatment of Covid-infected patients could be undertaken at the lower level after proper diagnostics.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar had already directed the officials of health department to ramp up RT-PCR test and drastically curtail the reporting time so that fatalities could be cut significantly. The instruction was given by the CM after the death of former minister Mewalal Chaudhary, who died due to Covid for want of timely diagnosis of the disease.
{{/usCountry}}Chief minister Nitish Kumar had already directed the officials of health department to ramp up RT-PCR test and drastically curtail the reporting time so that fatalities could be cut significantly. The instruction was given by the CM after the death of former minister Mewalal Chaudhary, who died due to Covid for want of timely diagnosis of the disease.
{{/usCountry}}At the meeting that was held in virtual mode and was attended by development commissioner Amir Subhani, additional chief secretary (panchayati raj) Amrit Lal Meena, principal secretary (health) Pratyay Amrit, director general of police SK Singhal and divisional commissioners, district magistrates and superintendents of police (SPs), DMs were directed to arrange required medical facilities like oxymeters, basic path lab, medicines and PPE kits at the PHCs, community health centres, subdivisional and district hospitals so that Covid patients could be treated there.
“Only critically sick persons, who required critical care, shall be allowed admission in the premier hospitals like AIIMS, PMCH, NMCH, IGIMS, etc,” said the CM’s principal secretary.
The task force on oxygen supply has been directed to stay in touch with the nearest refilling plants at Bokaro, Jamshedpur, Durgapur, etc, to streamline supply of liquid oxygen.
Currently, three private plants in Patna, which generate oxygen from the air and refill up to 50 cylinders per hour, have been told to stay operational round-the-clock. Another oxygen plant set up in Begusarai has also be operationalised, while plants attached with premier hospitals have also be told to optimize their production.