Conduct mock drills to test readiness of oxygen plants: State issues fresh guidelines to all health officials
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Pune: The state health commissioner on Monday issued fresh guidelines to health officials in all civic bodies, district health offices and Zilla Parishad offices, directing them to conduct mock drills of all the Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants that were operational during the Covid-19 pandemic.
State govt has also asked these bodies to reserve beds in case of any surge in respiratory infections while ensuring that all Covid-positive samples are sent for genome sequencing.
The circular issued by the commissioner states that there has been a slow but steady rise in acute respiratory infections (ARIs) across the country. Most of the cases are mild and the current SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in circulation is the JN 1, XFG and LF 7.9.
Common symptoms include fever, cough and itching in the throat.
As of Monday, Maharashtra has 506 active patients; most of them are in Mumbai. There have been 10 fatalities in the state during the current surge since mid-May.
Although these cases are mild, as a measure of precaution, health officials have to take a stock update on the availability of the number of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) sets, medical oxygen as well as isolation, ICU and ventilator beds.
"A mock drill must be conducted of the PSA oxygen plants to check for oxygen preparedness," said the directive.
Further, it has been instructed that about 5% of all influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) patients' samples must be sent for testing and all positive samples must be sent to the regional Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) for genome sequencing.
The district surveillance units have been told to keep a close watch on the SARI and ILI trends in their areas.
In view of the above guidelines, Dr Nagnath Yempalle, civil surgeon, Pune district, said, "We have conducted a mock drill of all our oxygen plants. While most are in working condition, some will need repairs, especially those in the periphery, where oxygen plants are not in regular use. We will get those repaired as well. We already have a 100-bed Covid hospital that was set up during the pandemic, which we can use to admit patients in need.
We have already cleaned the hospital."
Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) health chief Dr Nina Borade commented, "We have conducted the mock drills of some of our oxygen plants, and most are in working condition. We will inspect the remaining ones on Tuesday, and a final report will be prepared. If any of the plants need repairs, then we will conduct the same. Many of these plants have not been in use for a long time and might need some maintenance. We have also reserved 50 beds at Naidu hospital for Covid-19 patients.
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Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) medical officer Dr Laxman Gophane was unavailable for a comment despite repeated attempts by TOI to contact him.
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