24 hours to form booth-level teams: K Sudhakar

BENGALURU: Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar has set a 24-hour deadline for Booth Level Task Force officers to assign teams to check cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), Influenza Like Illness (ILI), reverse isolation and contact tracing, and submit reports. Each Booth is a cluster of 1,500 residents. Sudhakar said, “The teams will have to do a door-to-door survey in their booths and ensure reverse isolation of people who are over 60 years old. The teams have to ensure that the elderly isolated themselves within their homes and maintained distance from youngsters, who step out to work. All SARI and ILI cases have to be identified and their swab tests taken. Once a Covid-positive report is out, they have to identify primary and secondary contacts within 24 hours.” 

Though Covid fatalities are increasing and 216 deaths were reported in the last three days alone, Sudhakar maintained that only 25% of deaths in the state are due to Covid, while the rest are non-Covid. “People need not panic if they test positive for coronavirus. The Covid death audit will be completed in the next two to three days,” he said.

All health workers will be provided with thermal scanners and pulse oximeters to check Covid patients. This apart, 200 ambulances will be added to the existing fleet. The state government is writing to the Medical Council of India to withdraw licences of medical colleges that have been designated to conduct tests but do not clear the samples immediately. 

On government and private hospitals insisting on Covid test results before admitting and treating patients, he said, “Hospitals can’t deny treatment at any cost. Even if patients do not have Covid test results, they should be treated. Otherwise, strict action will be taken against such hospitals.”He said that the use of digital X-ray should be promoted to diagnose patients. “It will show lung infections at early stages. If a case is severe, the patient can be referred to designated Covid hospitals and swab tests taken,” he added.
Health and Family Welfare Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said that right now, Bengaluru has 5,000 beds with oxygen and people need not worry about shortage of beds.