Centre tells states to focus on optimal equipment use, tracing
NEWDELHI: Optimal use of hospital beds, ambulances and ventilators and a more aggressive approach towards contact tracing are the need of the hour, the Centre has told the states, as the number of Covid-19 positive cases jumped to 267,000 on Tuesday, officials aware of the situation said.
According to officials involved in the Centre-state discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity, central ministries and the cabinet secretariat are in touch with state governments on a daily basis, closely monitoring the emerging situation and providing actionable inputs to the states.
During recent interactions, the Centre asked states to sharpen their focus on optimal use of hospital beds because the cases are sharply rising in some parts of the country compared to the availability of beds
“There will be rising demand for hospital beds with the rise in number of cases. Some states have a policy to keep people with mild symptoms quarantined at home. We are further underlining that hospital beds, ambulance services and ventilators have to be judiciously used,” said one of the officials cited above.
Hospital beds, ambulances and ventilators, according to the official, are also critical to keep the death rate low.
In other words, these critical services should be available in emergency cases.
“Earlier, we got reports that some private hospitals in a few states are using ventilators not so judiciously. We asked the states concerned to look into the issue,” the official added.
The gradual opening up of the economy and the movement of migrant workers are the key reasons for the rise in the number of Covid-19 case, according to an internal assessment by the Union government.
But the officials cited said the revival of the economy and return of workers stranded by the lockdown to their states were also“absolutely essential”.
One official also added that as of now there is no major change in the government’s strategy of fighting Covid-19 and the states had been asked to do “more of the same”, or rigorously follow existing guidelines to prevent the spread of the outbreak.
A senior official from West Bengal said that they are strictly following the Central government’s guidelines while a health department official of Rajasthan maintained that door-to-door survey in municipal areas have been actively going on in Jaipur and Jodhpur.