Amid fear of community spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the State Government has taken several measures, including augmentation of hospitals’ capacities, to combat the deadly disease.
The fear of community spread of the virus is looming large as a 60-year-old man with no history of travelling abroad tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday and emerged as the State’s third positive case.
Two dedicated hospitals for COVID-19 patients with a total of 950 beds would be set up at the SUM Hospital and the KIMS here. The Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) and the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) would provide financial support.
A similar facility with 700 beds would also be established at Tangi near Cuttack.
This apart, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar would establish an exclusive unit with 206 beds.
The Government has decided to temporarily reserve around 500 beds with ICU facilities exclusively for COVID-19 patients in Ganjam district. The district administration has identified Tata Memorial Hospital, Sitalapalli, Science College at Chhatrapur and Women’s College at Bhanjanagar to convert these facilities as COVID-19 care units.
The third confirmed case having no history of visiting abroad has indicated a possibility of the outbreak moving into stage-3, which is community transmission, said State Government Chief Spokesperson on COVID-19 Subroto Bagchi. What is “really alarming” is that the man visited as many as three hospitals in Bhubaneswar, he pointed out.
Steps are also being taken to put in place a large number of additional beds with proper facilities in other parts of the State for treatment of COVID-19 patients, said a Health Department official.
The Government has set up 7,276 temporary medical camps in all the 6,798 gram panchayats with necessary facilities to tackle any emergent situation, he said.
The Government has also decided to engage microbiologists on a temporarybasis to ensure smooth functioning of the district public health laboratories and collection of blood and swab samples, he said.