Latest news with #Covid-like
Hindustan Times
21 hours ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Schools reopen with Covid precautions as cases rise
Schools across the state reopened on Monday for the new academic year after the summer break, with health and education authorities implementing renewed precautionary measures due to a recent increase in Covid-19 cases in the state. As students returned to classrooms, many were seen wearing masks along with teachers and staff members. The state government, anticipating the public health risk, had issued a circular last week stressing the need to follow Covid-19 safety protocols in all schools — government, aided, and unaided. The health and family welfare commissioner, in the advisory, directed parents not to send their children to school if they exhibit symptoms such as fever, cough, or cold. The same applies to school staff — both teaching and non-teaching — who have been asked to take appropriate precautions if they are unwell. 'If children come to school with fever, cough, cold and other symptoms, inform their parents and send them back to home,' the circular from the health department said. 'If these symptoms are found among the school teachers and non-teaching staff, they should be advised to follow appropriate precautionary measures.' The circular mandates strict adherence to Covid-19 appropriate behaviour (CAB), which includes regular hand hygiene, proper cough etiquette, and isolation of symptomatic individuals. Schools have been advised to immediately send home any student found with Covid-like symptoms, while ensuring that staff members also comply with hygiene protocols. As of Sunday evening, Karnataka reported 253 active Covid-19 cases, with four deaths attributed to comorbid conditions since the beginning of the year. In line with health directives, the department of school education and literacy (DSEL) has reiterated that symptomatic children should not be sent to school and should only return after receiving medical attention and full recovery. The commissioner of public instruction also issued a parallel advisory stating that children must attend school only after symptoms subside and that all schools must remain vigilant in implementing preventive measures. General secretary of the associated managements of schools in Karnataka (KAMS) D Shashikumar said, 'For the safety of children, we have been instructed to follow Covid-19 precautionary measures in all schools under our organisation. Accordingly, all our schools have been sanitised. Parents have been advised not to send children with fever, cough and cold and other problems to schools. All the instructions issued by the government in this regard from time to time will be followed without fail.'
New Indian Express
6 days ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
Six cases reported in Guntur region as Covid spikes in Andhra
GUNTUR: Amid a nationwide rise in Covid-19 cases, six cases were reported in the erstwhile Guntur district on Wednesday. Among them, three fresh cases were recorded in Bapatla and Palnadu districts on Wednesday, while the other three were registered in Guntur over the last couple of days, District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO) Dr Vijaya Lakshmi confirmed. A married couple from Eluru tested positive at Manipal Hospital in Tadepalli. An 83-year-old man from Tenali, reportedly in serious condition, is being treated at the same hospital. In response to the surge in cases and an increase in respiratory illnesses, the Government General Hospital (GGH) in Guntur has launched a dedicated COVID-19 outpatient service near the Emergency Department. The facility utilises the newly established intensive care unit to treat patients showing the Covid-like symptoms. GGH currently has 300 oxygen cylinders in reserve and an operational oxygen plant capable of producing 30,000 kilolitres. The infrastructure supports oxygen supply to 1,500 beds, including those in emergency wards. Technical teams are on standby for maintenance. The hospital also operates four in-house oxygen generation units that extract oxygen directly from the air. While one unit is under repair, each of the other three produces 40 litres per minute, enough to collectively support about 1,000 patients in case of a spike in demand. Hospital authorities said the measures are part of a proactive strategy to ensure uninterrupted care.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
India gears up to reboot ICU standards, fix doctor drain, and cash in on global med travel
India will soon come up with a structured framework for critical care to address the infrastructure and human resource gap in the sector, officials said. The idea, which is at a preliminary stage of discussion, could include defining resource allocation for critical care and criteria for prioritising patients during emergencies. The proposed framework could lay down standards for structure, personnel, and organisation of the critical care unit across hospitals in the country, a senior government official told ET on the condition of anonymity. A committee has been formed under NITI Aayog member VK Paul to lay out standards for world-class critical care in India as the country eyes significant surge in medical value travel in the coming years, besides helping the nation prepare better for any Covid-like pandemic in future. The Aayog is studying global standards and will soon initiate stakeholder consultations to draft an India-centric framework for critical care, the official said. "Two evident gaps in critical care are infrastructure and human resources. India needs guidelines to fix these key aspects of critical care to up its standards and ensure that only people in genuine need avail of these services," the official added. Experts point towards imbalance between availability and access to critical care in India. "India faces an acute drain of talent, both doctors and support staff trained in critical care, which impacts the quality of critical care services in the country," Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, past president, Indian Medical Association, Kochi, said, adding there was a pressing need for updated specialised equipment at intensive care units to address the infrastructure gap as well. "The framework should emphasise critical care protocols, requisite infrastructure, well trained and well credentialed doctors and support staff to raise the standards of critical care in India," he added. India has guidelines for intensive care unit admission, but these are often ignored and admission to critical care units of ICUs happen for social reasons, sometimes depriving genuine patients of the critical care they deserve, an industry expert said, requesting not to be identified. "Some standards are already in place but they are not adhered to on the ground largely because of scarcity of infrastructure and huge gap in demand and supply of critical care beds in the country," the expert added. Industry body Ficci pegs the medical value travel (MVT) in India at $13 billion by 2026 compared to around $6 billion in 2022 with patients for Bangladesh, Iraq, Maldives, Afghanistan, Oman, Yemen, Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania accounting for about 88% of the total international patients visiting India.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
KMC forms health teams in wards for door-to-door survey, focus on seniors
1 2 3 Kolkata: Taking note of the gradual rise in Covid cases, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has formed a team of health workers in wards who will go from door to door in neighbourhoods to identify elderly citizens with comorbidities suffering from Covid-like symptoms. KMC health officials have also been asked to collect data from the state and private hospitals about any patient testing positive for Covid. At the same time, the civic brass has activated the Covid infrastructure at the health clinics as part of preparation to combat any outbreak in future. Deputy mayor and KMC health department MMiC Atin Ghosh on Tuesday held an urgent meeting with the senior health officials from all 16 boroughs and asked them to get ready for any emergency. "We interacted with the borough executive health officers and asked them to train the medical officers who joined post-Covid period so that any patients turning up at our health clinics are examined well and, if need be, send patients with Covid-like symptoms to the School of Tropical Medicine to undergo tests," said Ghosh. Meanwhile, the KMC health department decided to launch a campaign to educate citizens about emerging dangers. "We will ask citizens to use sanitiser, masks, and keep social distancing from a patient who might test positive for Covid," said Ghosh. However, Ghosh made it clear that there is no Covid threat now and the KMC health department didn't want to spread panic. "All we need to do is ask the citizens to remain alert," the deputy mayor said.
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Business Standard
18-05-2025
- Health
- Business Standard
Covid-19 spike in Hong Kong, Singapore not yet a concern for India: Experts
Doctors advise calm as India sees just 58 new Covid-19 cases amid a rise in HK and Singapore; experts highlight low hospitalisation and no serious strain currently Sanket Koul New Delhi Doctors and medical experts have called on people not to panic and remain vigilant, even as several Asian geographies such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand have recorded a surge in Covid-19 cases over the last week. This comes after India registered 58 new cases in one week, taking the total number of active cases in the country to 93, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's Covid-19 dashboard. The rise in fresh cases comes at a time when Covid-19 testing volumes are not high, with several patients with viral fevers and Covid-like symptoms not being
