Berhampur: With health experts predicting that the third wave of Covid-19 is going to be more devastating, the state government has already started taking preventive measures.
It has been said that the third wave of the pandemic is likely to affect children more than elders. In this backdrop, 50 beds have been earmarked for treatment of kids at the Covid Ward-1 in the MKCG Medical College and Hospital (MKCGMCH) here.
Senior doctors and officials of MKCGMCH have visited the ward to supervise the preparations. The facility has 150 beds in total, the team is learnt to have identified the space for accommodating 50 beds for infected children.
Among the 50 beds, 20 will be common beds, 10 special care beds, 10 special newborn care unit (SNCU) beds and 10 high dependency unit (HDU) beds, it was learnt.
This way, all possible treatment facilities can be made available to the infected children including the newborns.
In treating Covid-19 positive children, instruments and equipment like neonatal ventilator, body warmer, syringe and, infusion pumps and monitor are basically required.
A letter has already been written to the Odisha State Medicine Corporation urging it to supply the above mentioned equipment to the facility. So far three children, including newborns and a 10-year-old child have succumbed to Covid-19 at MKCGMCH.
However, the recovery rate has been quite high. When contacted, MKCGMCH superintendent Prof Dr Santosh Kumar Mishra confirmed it that 50 beds at DCH-1 have been kept aside for children.
“As of now, four new mothers and a 13-year-old boy are undergoing treatment there after testing positive for Covid-19. We have already written to the Odisha State Medical Corporation(OSMC) for supply of machines necessary for treating Covid-19 infected children and hope we will receive them soon,” informed Dr Mishra.
PNN
