Covid-19: Gujarat readies for possible third wave

AHMEDABAD: Amid the predictions by the national and international experts on a possible third wave of Covid-19 cases across India, Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani on Monday convened a meeting with senior bureaucrats, medical experts and scientists to chalk out action plan.
Senior officials said that the key issues discussed during the meet included strengthening existing health infrastructure, arranging for the human resources, ensuring oxygen supply and enforcing a uniform treatment protocol. “The points were discussed in light of the state’s experience of the past one year. Vaccination was also stressed as an effective tool for Covid control by the CM and experts,” said a senior state government official.

Rupani told participants that the focus in the third wave will be to minimize both deaths as well as coronavirus infections. He credited the recent decline in cases to the collective efforts of healthcare workers and citizens. Gujarat has opted for partial lockdown and night curfew to curb cases, rather than adopting the strategy of limited period full lockdown followed by many states.
The experts pointed at mucormycosis – a fungal infection now frequently seen in Covid-recovered patients – as an area of concern and asked the administration to brace for a higher number of cases.
In a press conference after the meeting, Jayanti Ravi, principal secretary (health & family welfare), said that rural areas are under focus to contain the pandemic. “Isolation centres and Covid care centres with oxygen are being increased across the state.
The focus is on breaking the chain, quick identification of the positive cases and isolating them. We also want to reduce the delay in hospitalization,” she said.
She defended the dip in Covid testing, claiming that the state’s existing testing is over 2,000 per million population, which is higher than the national average. “The testing is based on factors such as calls to 104 helpline, severe cases in triage areas and OPDs at private clinics. We are not reducing the tests,” she said.
Medical experts said that the government is advised on increasing oxygen beds based on the experience of the existing wave.