Yogi govt lays down directives to ‘Team 9’ to fight Covid-19 pandemic in state

New Delhi: During the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic, Yogi government stayed ahead of the curve by conducting over 1.5 daily Corona tests on daily basis and also making a mark in tracking & testing the ‘Corona contacts’.

UP CM had constituted ‘Team 11’last year, comprising of senior bureaucrats and tasked with the charge to contain the pandemic.

To contain the second wave, UP CM has constituted ‘Team 9’which would implement state’s Covid response strategy quickly & efficiently.

The state govt has laid down series of guidelines/directives for the team to act in earnest and do ‘whatever it takes’ in containing the spread of contagious virus.

• With the aim of breaking the chain of Corona infection and keeping villages safe from Corona, a large testing campaign is currently being conducted in more than 97,000 revenue villages. This campaign is getting positive results. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also praised our campaign today. This campaign of mass publicity should be conducted with full readiness. An antigen test of every symptomatic/suspected person should be done. Increase the number of RRT team.

• The entire state is united in the fight against the global pandemic Corona. Public compliance and planned compliance with the policy of trace, test, and treat are yielding good results. As of April 30, there were 3,10,783 active Covid cases in the state, whereas today it has been reduced by more than 95,000 due to continuous efforts. At present, there are 2,16,057 active Covid cases in the state. The state’s recovery rate is continuously getting better. So far, over 13.13 lakh people have successfully won the battle with Corona.

• In the last 24 hours, 20,463 new Covid cases have been confirmed in the state, while 29,358 people have recovered and have been discharged during the same period. This situation is satisfactory. New Covid cases are decreasing in the state, while the recovery rate is getting better.

• Uttar Pradesh is the most testing state. In the last 24 hours, 2,33,705 sample tests were conducted, of which 1,10,000 tests were conducted only through RTPCR. So far, 4,34,04,184crore tests have been conducted in the state. Action should be taken expeditiously as per the mantra of ‘Test, Track Treat’.

• Keeping in view the assessment of experts, special arrangements for the health protection of children need to be made in all districts. For this purpose, pediatric ICUs with a capacity of a minimum of 10-15 beds in all district hospitals and 25-30 beds in medical colleges should be prepared.

• There should be a minimum 100-bed pediatric ICU at Divisional Headquarters. Necessary medical equipment, medicine, etc. should be made available. Physicians and other staff should be trained in this regard. This work should be done fast.

• Monitoring committees are doing door-to-door visits in villages and screening people. These committees provide medical kits to home isolated patients and other people with suspected symptoms as required. This system of medical kit distribution should be constantly monitored. Provide the name and phone number of the monitoring committees to whom the medical kit is being provided, to the ICCC. ICCC should revise it.

• Apart from this, a copy of this should be made available to the local public representatives through the District Magistrate so that MPs/MLAs can get medical kits and communicate with the people. This will also enable cross verification of the system. Every person with suspected symptoms must have an antigen test.

• Ventilators and oxygen concentrators have been provided in all districts. ACS Health, Principal Secretary Medical Education should ensure that these devices are operational in each case. Contact the concerned districts and get their problems resolved in this regard. In addition, if the ventilator/oxygen concentrator is not reported to be functional, then the accountability of the DM/CMO concerned will be fixed.

• Availability of all medicines considered as life-saving including Remdesivir is being ensured in the state. The Government of India has also increased the daily allocation of Remdesivir for Uttar Pradesh. In government Covid hospitals this injection is completely free. This is being made available to private hospitals by the DM/CMO as per requirement. All the District Magistrates and CMOs should ensure that whenever a patient is given this injection, there is a doctor present along with the nursing staff. Complete details of the demand, supply, and consumption of this life-saving medicine should be maintained.

• To protect against Corona, the state government is providing vaccine safety cover to all citizens. Uttar Pradesh is the most vaccinated state. So far 1,39,08,152 doses have been administered. Vaccination of the 18-44 age group is now being conducted in 18 districts. On May 10, 50,157 people in this age group were inoculated. Thus, more than 1.66 lakh people aged 18 to 44 have been vaccinated in the state. Vaccine waste is also declining in this age group, currently, it is 0.6 percent.

• Planned efforts are being made for the availability of medical human resources in view of future challenges. Medical/paramedical final year, interns, youth who have completed training, retired experienced people should be employed. In this regard, the process of selection and appointment should be completed in a week. A detailed review should be done by the Minister of Medical Education.

• Work is being done with full commitment to improving the supply and distribution system of Oxigen. All districts are being supplied oxygen as per the requirement. In the last 24 hours, 1,011 metric tonnes of oxygen has been distributed in the state. Of this, 632 metric tonnes have been supplied to refillers and 301 metric tonnes to medical colleges.

• Oxygen availability is getting better in larger and higher transition rates districts like Varanasi, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Kanpur. Today a new train of 08 tankers is coming, while Jeevanakshak Express with 10 tankers is parked in Lucknow.

• Due to the need of the districts, these should be properly distributed. Apart from GautamBudh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, special attention needs to be given to the districts with low infection rates. Oxygen supply should be made by making separate action plans for all the districts.

• Global tenders have been issued for the availability of cryogenic tankers. These tankers are also being provided by the Government of India. Additional tankers have been received from Reliance Industries. The number of tankers is increasing steadily, this has helped to further improve oxygen supply.

• There is a need to improve the arrangement of oxygen supply to the patients undergoing home isolation. Oxidation was made available to the Covid patients undergoing home isolation, suspected patients, non-Covid patients suffering from severe disease, or any patient who needed oxygen as per medical consultation. A necessary mandate in this regard should be issued today. All districts must have a smooth supply of oxygen at home for the undertrials. In view of the report of oxygen audit, the balance of supply distribution should be made.

• Keeping in view the partial corona curfew, proper arrangements should be made for the well-being of street hawkers, vendors, construction workers, labourers, etc. More than 350 community eateries have been started in the state, these need to be further increased. Community kitchens should be operated in all districts. It would be appropriate to get cooperation from private voluntary organizations also.

• Following the mantra of ‘cleanliness, medicine, hardness’, a campaign of state-wide sanitation and sanitation is going on. Sanitation, sanitization, fogging was done in 63080 villages yesterday. People need to be aware of cleanliness. Corona curfew should be implemented effectively.

• Establishment of the Oxygen plant should be expedited. The Chief Secretary should continue to monitor the plants being set up by the Government of India. Sugarcane Development and Excise Department have also got support in oxygen production and supply. Action is being taken to set up an oxygen plant in 70 districts.

• The functioning of the plant to be set up in the departments of Health Department and Medical Education Department should be reviewed daily. Oxygen plants are also being set up by the private sector, they should be provided all necessary facilities as per the rules. For the treatment of Covid, cooperation can be made with MP/MLA fund in connection with air separator unit, setting up of oxygen plant, etc.