Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Thursday claimed that as of now, the State is in the second stage of local transmission.
His assertion assumes significance as the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has already expressed his apprehensions of the State entering into the stage of community transmission. Notably, out of 197 cases, the State has more than two dozen cases where source of infection is untraced.
“Now, Punjab is in second stage and to deal with unprecedented circumstances, the frontline teams of health department is constantly working on war footing to trace all the contacts of affected patient which is the single way to curb the spread of this highly contagious disease,” said Sidhu.
He said that the State Government is well prepared to combat the corona virus pandemic and Punjab would set an example in fight against COVID-19.
Underlining the present status of Punjab, Sidhu said that 29 persons have been declared cured. “Most of the cases are related to foreign travel background or their contacts. The teams of Health Department are continuously doing the door-to-door screening in the affected areas to identify the suspected patients,” he said.
Highlighting the Government’s preparedness to deal the corona virus patient, the Minister said that for care of COVID-19 patients, nearly 5186 isolation beds have been identified in Government and Private Health facilities with about 480 ventilators and 1101 ICU beds available for the same.
To take care of COVID patients who have very mild symptoms, COVID Care Isolation Centers have been planned each having a capacity of 500-1000 beds. All critical COVID patients will go to three Government Medical Colleges and two private Medical Colleges.
At the same time, he assured that there is adequate supply of PPE kits, N95 masks and triple layer masks which is being provided to all hospitals and Government Medical Colleges.
IMPLEMENTING CONTAINMENT PLAN WHERE CLUSTER OF CASES REPORTED
The Minister said that Punjab’s four districts — SAS Nagar, SBS Nagar, Jalandhar and Pathankot — have been declared as hotspots by the Central Government based on the number of cases, that is where more than 15 cases of COVID-19 have been reported so far.
Revealing about containment plan, Sidhu said that wherever there is clustering of cases, the whole area within a radius of three kilometers around the positive patients is covered. “The area is sealed and no entry or exit of people is allowed. Surveillance is done for searching symptomatic persons and testing,” he said.
If anyone found positive for COVID-19, they are immediately rushed to isolation centers. All the goods needed by population are provided at doorsteps,” he said.
Sidhu said that similar strategy has been implementing in 24 hotspots of nine districts, already identified by the State Government, while special attention is being paid at SAS Nagar and Jalandhar districts where, till date, higher number of cases has been reported.
“Besides taking samples of contacts of affected patients, 1000 rapid test kits have been given to both districts to throttle the process of testing so that this outbreak can be locked in the specific areas and all the new confirmed cases to be put under treatment as earliest,” he said.
He added that all roads connected to hotspots area has been closed with the help of Police department and curfew restrictions are strictly being implemented to break the spread.
SUCCEEDED IN BREAKING CHAIN IN WORST HIT DISTRICT
Sidhu said that as of today, “we have one of the foremost example of SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr) where the State Government has successfully break the chain of corona virus and the number of patients freeze at 19 since March 26”.
Of the 19 patients, 17 patients have been cured, while one patient Baldev Singh died, and “we hope one remaining patient will also be recovered soon”.
The district reported its first case on March 18, that too after 70-year-old Baldev Singh died due to cardiac arrest and tested positive a day after. The first coronavirus casualty, Baldev Singh infected 27 people, including 18 from Nawanshahr alone.
EXPERTS PANEL FORMED FOR CHECKING MORTALITY RATE
The Minister said that for better clinical management of sick patients, and check mortality rates, a committee of experts has also been constituted which will support treating doctors in taking decision for management of patients.
Regular webinars are being conducted for doctors involved in treatment of COVID-19 patients to bring them up to date regarding latest treatment guidelines, he said.