Covid-19: Karnataka medical education minister asks hospitals to check bed, drugs and oxygen availability
Bengaluru: With Covid cases increasing, medical education minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil Wednesday directed all state-run medical colleges-cum-hospitals to be prepared to handle a sudden spike in the number of Covid +ve patients
Talking to media after a meeting on Tuesday, Patil said: "All hospitals are asked to assess how many oxygenated beds and ventilators are available and to place a demand for what they need.
" He added instructions were given to maintain the stock of required drugs - antipyretics (medicine that reduces fever), antitussives (cough suppressants), steroids, or anticoagulants. All directors were told to send their demands for hospital facilities by the end of the day, he said.
He added the health department was checking the availability of Remdesivir (intravenous antiviral medication for Covid) and is providing RTPCR kits through NHM.
While masks are not mandatory in public places, Patil said doctors and officials visiting hospitals are expected to mask up.
Officials said the cases were seen increasingly in newborns. So far, the minister said, all cases are mild and only one patient is hospitalised. The department maintained that the spike in cases is cyclical in nature and told TOI recovery is much faster, usually a week.
Advisories by govt:
- Pregnant, seniors, and persons with comorbid conditions should wear masks in crowded areas
- Children with flu symptoms should avoid being sent to school
- Testing of SARI cases
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