New Delhi: The door-to-door distribution of special medicine kits with syrups and chewable tablets for children under ‘Corona Ki Jang Mein Har Jeevan Anmol’ campaign by the Uttar Pradesh government kicked off on Sunday with an objective to prevent a third Covid wave in the state.

Upgrading its armour against the new coronavirus variant ‘Delta-Plus’ that could stoke a third wave and pose a great threat to the children, the state government has prepared over 50 lakh pamphlets-cum-envelopes in which the medical kits for children will be distributed by the surveillance committees in all 75 districts of the state.

Free special medicine kits to children in remote regions

The kits include syrups and chewable tablets of lesser dosage than adults. There are four kinds of kits — for children between 0-1 years, between 1-5 years, between 5-12 year olds and those aged between 12 and 18 years which will now be provided even in the remote regions of Uttar Pradesh.

The kits will be provided to every child showing influenza-like symptoms like cold and cough by over 4 lakh members of more than 60,569 surveillance committees in the rural areas.

Over 50 lakh free medicine kits to be distributed across all 75 districts

The state government has taken up immediate containment measures, including preventing crowds, conducting widespread testing as well as increasing vaccine coverage on a priority basis in districts close to the states where the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 has been detected.

Over 74,000 surveillance committees operating both in urban and rural areas had played a vital role in the process of timely identification, isolation and treatment of people showing mild symptoms which stopped any further spread.

A widely deployed and efficient testing strategy in Uttar Pradesh has helped in limiting the spread of new cases as it significantly reduced the chance of individuals with undetected virus exposure from roaming freely among unexposed individuals.

‘Corona Ki Jang Mein Har Jeevan Anmol’ to keep 3rd wave at bay

It is noteworthy that there are a total of 3011 PHCs and as many as 855 CHCs in the state. While the number of PHCs in the urban areas is about 592. The state capital has over 9 CHCs, 28 PHCs, 52 health post centres and 8 urban PHCs, all of which are equipped with advanced technology and all state-of-the-art resources to fight the third wave.

Director General (Medical and Health) Dr DS Negi informed that appropriate arrangements have been made for the distribution of medical kits. The medical kit is divided into four categories for children and adolescents according to their age and that the medical kit for infants to one year olds and for 1-5 years of age consists of two vials of Paracetamol Syrup, one vial of MultiVitamin Syrup and two packets of the ‘ORS’ solution. Between 6-12 year olds and those aged between 12 and 17 years will be provided eight paracetamol tablets, seven multivitamin tablets, three ivermectin tablets of 6 mg each and two packets of ORS solution.

DS Negi further informed that preparations are on a war-footing to ensure elaborate arrangements in terms of availability of beds and hospitals for children in every district.

Intensive measures to tackle the third wave

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked the Health Department to expedite the process of setting up PICU/NICU across the state. “Top priority should be given to the establishment of PICU/NICU beds in all the districts by June itself.”

The government has also ensured that there is an availability of all necessary equipment including BiPAP machine, Pediatric ICU, mobile X-ray machine. There should be direct communication with their manufacturing companies to ensure prompt supply.

As the work of the first phase of doctors and nursing staff has been completed, with the help of these, other health workers should be trained, the CM instructed.

The Government also stated that the process of appointment to the vacant posts of pediatric specialists will be completed soon.

Active Caseload in Uttar Pradesh down to 3165

Uttar Pradesh recorded 222 fresh Covid-19 cases on Saturday at a positivity rate of 0.07 per cent, the lowest this year so far while the Recovery Rate has jumped to a splendid 98.5 percent.

The state is left with just 3,165 active cases while the percentage of active cases as against the total confirmed cases is just 0 per cent.

Leading in terms of conducting maximum COVID tests, Uttar Pradesh has tested as many as 5,70,85,424 samples for the coronavirus infection.