DELHI TO DRAW UP GRADED RESPONSE ACTION PLAN FOR COVID-19 MGMT, TIMELY RESPONSES
NEW DELHI: Building on the lessons it learnt from the brutal fourth wave of infections in the national capital, the Delhi government on Thursday said that it will create a “graded response action plan (Grap)” for the timely management of the pandemic through preplanned and systematic interventions.
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal will chair a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday to discuss these measures, officials said.
The health department on Thursday ordered the constitution of two committees for the purpose. The first will be a “state level expert committee”, comprising senior doctors and bureaucrats, and will be tasked with preparing the Grap measures depending on the positivity rate in Delhi at any point.
The panel will devise a plan to mitigate the impact of a possible third wave and will also chalk out the preparations necessary to handle the specialised needs of children, in case more of them fall ill, as predicted by certain experts.
“Devise clear guidelines on when to announce lockdown and to what degree or extent. Prepare a plan of action for increasing and activating hospital infrastructure (isolation beds, oxygen beds, ICU beds, ventilators), essential drugs, oxygen supply, and other crucial items based on the positivity rate indicator,” said the order on the state level expert committee.
The second committee will act more like a third wave task force in Delhi, a senior health official said. This panel comprises 13 members -- all bureaucrats and the state director general of health services.
The committee has been tasked with the preparation of a detailed plan of action to estimate the number of beds (isolation, oxygen, ICU, etc) and additional equipment required, where these equipment and materials will be sourced from.
The government is also giving priority to ensuring adequate oxygen supply, officials said.
The order asked the panel to ensure that all the large hospital facilities, wherever possible, get their own oxygen generation plants which can serve their oxygen needs.
It also directed that all Delhi government hospitals must have provisions for supply of piped oxygen and enough oxygen cylinders.
“An assessment of the requirement of transportation vehicles in order to procure cryogenic tankers, and other vehicles required for the smooth transportation of oxygen from other states should also be done,” the order further stated.