Vadodara readies for possible surge with eye on children

Vadodara: The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has started identifying facilities where paediatric Covid-19 cases can be taken up for treatment. It has already identified 400 beds in the city where children can be admitted during a possible third wave of the pandemic, said sources. These include 200 beds in the government hospitals and an equal number in private hospitals.
Many experts have predicted that a higher number of children may get infected in the third wave. During the first two waves, the number of cases amongst children was much lower as compared to the adults.
“We are taking stock of the total beds available as well as the number of beds available in paediatric ICUs and neonatal ICUs. The data is being collected,” said VMC’s medical officer (health), Dr Devesh Patel.
Sources said that 100 ICU beds are also available for paediatric Covid-19 cases. These beds include around 30 with ventilators or BIPAP machines. Around 20 of these are available in government hospitals while the remaining are in private hospitals. Officials said that the ventilators or BIPAP machines used for treating children are different from those used for treatment of adults.
A meeting of the Vadodara-based paediatricians was held online in the city.
The preparedness of private hospitals was checked during the meeting.