Develop KGMU, Balrampur as dedicated Covid hospitals:Yogi

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday asked officers to make additional arrangements in Lucknow as patients from other districts were bound to reach the state capital for treatment. He said King George’s Medical University (KGMU) and Balrampur Hospital should be developed as dedicated Covid hospitals and this work should be carried out in a phased manner. Adequate care should be taken of nonCovid patients too, he said.

He said there was a need to add additional capacity to develop TS Mishra, Integral and Hind Medical colleges as dedicated Covid hospitals.

He said additional beds should be made available there in the next two days.

Yogi, who isolated himself following Covid-19 positive report on Wednesday, gave orders in this regard after reviewing the situation with Team-11 at a video conference on Thursday.

“Yes, chief minister reviewed the Covid-19 situation. He is performing all the duties virtually from his residence,” said an official spokesman.

Although a compiled report about officers and employees working in different departments testing positive was not available, those aware of the development said a considerable number of officers and employees was undergoing treatment. “About six senior officers have tested positive for Covid-19,” said a spokesman.

As the state government has asked only 50% staff to turn up for duty in offices, the remaining 50% are expected to work from home in Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Prayagraj and Varanasi. The attendance in state secretariat and other offices remained comparatively low. “Many officers are also not turning up in offices while the number of employees working in offices is also low. Everybody is following the Jan hai to jahan hai mantra and will perform duties once in good health,” said Yadvendra Mishra of the secretariat employees’ union.

He said people should be educated about importance of masks and sanitisers. Adequate arrangements for safety should be made for the personnel deployed for panchayat elections. He said arrangements to provide masks, gloves and sanitisers to poll duty staff should be made.

The chief minister said there was the possibility of migrant labourers from different states coming back to UP. He said quarantine centres, in accordance with the Covid-19 protocol, should be set up in all the districts. He said arrangements for medical facilities, food and sleeping should be made there. He said an eye should be kept on availability of oxygen and Remdesivir injections. He said the chief minister’s office and chief secretary’s office should review the situation regularly and there should be no shortage in any hospital in any district.

He said there should no shortage of beds, medicines, medical equipment and oxygen for Covid patients- The minister incharge of the respective district should review the situation every day, he added.

He said also testing should be done to the optimum and laboratories of central institutes should be involved in conducting RT-PCR (Reverse TranscriptionPolymerase Chain Reaction) tests. He said TrueNat machines should also be used for the purpose.

Regular communication should be maintained with patients undergoing treatment in home isolation, he said.