Odisha to pool all resources to fight possible Covid third wave

BHUBANESWAR: Cautioning against a possible third wave of Covid-19 pandemic with a high probability of impact on children, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday announced that the State government will pool all available resources to ensure proper healthcare to children.

Launching a training programme for doctors on paediatric care on virtual platform, the Chief Minister said the government has approved an action plan to create infrastructure including equipment and medicine for this. Stating that training of doctors for paediatric care is very important to ensure capacity to treat children, he said it is going to be a real challenge if such a situation arises and the government needs to be prepared. 

Stating that the government has established a large network of government and private Covid hospitals across the districts to provide free quality treatment to people, he thanked the efforts of all the doctors and healthcare community for ensuring timely treatment to the Covid patients. 

The Chief Minister warned that though the infection rate has currently come down and the situation is under control, there have been reports of a possible third wave. Stating that the impact of the pandemic has been devastating across the world including India, he said Odisha has been on high alert to tackle the situation. “We have taken proactive steps to contain the spread of the virus,” he added. 

Chief Secretary SC Mahapatra said the training module has been designed with focus on technology and team work under the 5T initiative. Keeping an eye on the possible third wave, the government has designed the training programme for general duty medical officers and nursing staff. He also launched several Covid training capsules, awareness video and pocket book for frontline workers.  

During the programme, three doctors Sagar Dalai from Sundargarh, Sarat Chandra Samal from Ganjam and Udaya Jyoti Mallick from Cuttack interacted with the Chief Minister and spoke about the benefits of training for treating Covid patients.