Madhya Pradesh mulls pulse oximeters in urban areas for screening Covid-19 patients

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said the supply of pulse oximeters at mohalla and colony level is being considered for the control of Covid-19 to make survey work easier.

The Madhya Pradesh government will use pulse oximeters in every locality and colony in urban areas across the state to enhance survey and screening of people for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), a release from the government said on Monday.

A medical professional examines the oxygen saturation levels of a visitor using a pulse oximeter in Civil Hospital, Sector-10A, Gurugram on June 10, 2020.(Parveen Kumar /HT photo)

A pulse oximeter is a device used to monitor the amount of oxygen carried in the body.

According to the release, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said the supply of pulse oximeters at mohalla and colony level is being considered for the control of Covid-19 to make survey work easier.

“It will prove to be of help to rush any person found with disease symptoms to the health centre immediately for treatment. The general public will be made partners in corona control along with the administration,” the release said quoting the chief minister.

The chief minister said that order to make the general public aware of the importance of social distancing, conscious representatives will be selected from the public and given the responsibility.

“In order to free our state, the country and the whole world from corona, collective efforts are must, so that all of us can live a normal life, I would like to say to the people of the state that even God helps those who help themselves,” Chouhan said.

Faiz Ahmad Kidwai, the principal secretary of the health department, said the state government will enrol volunteers who will have the pulse oximeters to check the oxygen level of people during survey and screening in localities and colonies.

“If oxygen level of any person is found below the prescribed level, the details of the person will be entered in an app by the volunteer in his mobile phone so that the person concerned could be treated immediately,” Kidwai said.

“The government is working on details and modalities of the plan as to how to implement it in the best possible manner,” he added.

In reply to a question, he said initially the facility would be available in urban areas of the state.

Madhya Pradesh has 10,935 Covid-19 patients, out of whom 465 have died, so far, according to the state’s health department bulletin released on Monday night.

Indore tops the chart with 4,069 patients and 174 deaths followed by Bhopal with 2,235 patients and 72 deaths and Ujjain with 801 patients and 66 deaths. Till now, 7,903 patients have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals.