Covid brigade ready, 1st team to work in K’god

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan flagged of the first Covid brigade to Kasaragod from the state capital on Tuesday. The 26-member Covid brigade will be taking charge of the first-line treatment centres there.
The team completed the training at the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, before embarking on the mission.
Health minister K K Shailaja said the prediction is that the case load is all set to peak in September and hence, the health department had taken the initiative to constitute Covid brigade, which can help fight the pandemic.
The minister said so far over thousand people have registered to become the part of the Covid brigade. The first batch of the brigade includes doctors, nurses, lab technicians and those from social work and business management backgrounds.
A team led by Dr S S Santosh Kumar, deputy superintendent of MCH, Thiruvananthapuram, is providing the training for the Covid brigade. The training is given on infection control, basic life support, airway management, advance airway management, sample testing, medical protocols, Covid protocol and other emergency medical systems.
The minister said Covid management requires large human resources at various levels of public health system, including hospitals, CFLTCs, care centres, surveillance and monitoring system. Corona first-line treatment centres with more than 50,000 beds have been started in record time to meet the demand for treatment and care facilities.
“To power the human resources in CFLTCs, hospitals and public health system we have constituted Covid brigade, which will have a significant role in handling the pandemic situation,” said Shailaja.