Assam health dept gears up to ready infra for Covid childcare

GUWAHATI: Assam is on alert over reports of a possible Covid-19 third wave striking soon. The Centre has asked the state health department to prepare for the worst.
The Assam health department has asked medical college hospitals to immediately ready infrastructure for childcare. The population below 18 years, who are yet to be vaccinated, may be worst hit by the third wave, if it comes.
The recent guidelines on ‘Operationalization of Covid Care Services for Children & Adolescents’ from the Union government mentioned that as intermittent surges are expected, a combined effort from the private and public sector is needed to handle rising cases after the easing of the lockdown, school re-opening or as the third wave sets in over the next three to four months.
A target of achieving 1,000 Paediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) has been set in Assam, out of which the minimum goal is 10 in each district. Though children are the most vulnerable in the third wave, villages are also on the radar as they may turn into super-spreaders. State capital Guwahati is no more the biggest concern for virus infection as the focus has shifted to the districts with vast areas under gram panchayats. “More than towns, villages in the districts are reporting most of the positive cases and they are coming from interior pockets, not from the district headquarters,” said Assam director of medical education, Dr Anup Kumar Barman.
State health secretary Anurag Goel said on Monday, “In the next six to eight weeks, we should be ready with a large number of paediatric ICUs so that if critical cases come in, we can handle them efficiently.”
Health officials have predicted that three to five percent of the paediatric cases in Assam may be severe, if a third wave strikes. Out of the total positive cases in the second wave, Goel said, around 10% of the cases were of below 18 years. Deaths of children have also been minimal and most of them had co-morbid conditions. However, the same may not be the case in the third wave.
Goel said training of manpower has already started by linking up the district hospitals with medical colleges. “Training of medical officers and paramedical staff in paediatric ICU care and paediatric Covid care is going on under NHM,” he added.
While the Centre has asked for upgrading the existing Covid care facilities to provide care to children in acute cases, additional pediatric specific equipment, infrastructure and trained doctors and nurses are also needed. “The health authorities should initiate capacity building programmes for appropriate pediatric care. In standalone paediatric hospitals, separate arrangements, for example, separate beds for paediatric Covid care needs to be established,” the guidelines said.
"The estimates for additional bed capacity for pediatric care may be calculated on the basis of peaking daily cases in different districts during the second wave. From this number, projections for pediatric cases and number of admissions required can be derived," it added.