The meeting scheduled for Monday was later postponed till Tuesday as Monday was a public holiday in the state. Meanwhile, the Health Minister Veena George A high level meeting has been called on Tuesday morning to review the current situation.
expert committee covid Will submit a detailed report to the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Review meeting for their consideration, detailing the steps to be taken. The expert committee has already issued a warning regarding a possible third wave in the state.
The Health Minister said that steps are being taken to equip hospitals to deal with emergencies that may arise during the third wave. He said that in the coming days, testing will be increased and steps are also being taken to increase the vaccination. There was a reduction in testing in the state due to the holidays.
The Health Minister admitted that there were reports that the state would see a boom after Onam and hence the coming weeks would be crucial.
“We cannot lock down the entire state indefinitely. Life has to move on. Therefore people should strictly follow the covid protocol to prevent it from spreading. Comfort was brought for the Onam festival. But there was a huge crowd at many places in the state. So the next four weeks will be crucial for the state.” Veena said.
The minister said that the number of ICU beds, oxygen facilities and ventilator facilities are being increased from the taluk hospital level in view of the possibility of third wave. All district and general hospitals are being linked with medical college hospitals to provide specialist treatment.
Experts have pointed out that the third wave will be more important for children as vaccination has not started for them. Therefore, the pediatric facilities in the hospitals are being increased. 490 pediatric beds with oxygen facility, 158 HDU beds and 96 ICU beds are being prepared across the state.
At present there is a storage of 870 metric tonnes of oxygen in the state. Already 33 oxygen production units are being set up in various hospitals across the state. Since cases among family members are increasing, people should be very careful once they test positive, the minister said.
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