Health Ministry lists 12 best practices to fight Covid spike
New Delhi: Following the suggestions given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to district collectors to list out best practices to be followed by other districts, the Union Health Ministry has asked the states/UTs to emulate Tamil Nadu's taxi ambulance, Rajasthan's Mobile OPD, Kerala's Oxygen Nurses and others to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mentioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interaction with district collectors and Municipal Commissioners of worst-affected states/UTs regarding Covid management, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in a letter to states, said, "The coordinated and dedicated efforts put in by the states and districts through local innovations to manage the pandemic and associated challenges are appreciable."
The Health Secretary listed many initiatives like—mobile OPD at block level to provide non-Covid essential services to villages and provision of "Oxygen Mitra" in each hospital to check oxygen wastage in Bikaner, Rajasthan; and door-to-door testing using both RAT and RT-PCR in rural areas which brought down the positivity from 38 per cent to 2.8 per cent in a period of one month in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.
The letter also mentioned, "Use of "oxygen nurses" to ensure rational use of oxygen in hospitals in Kerala. Worksite Covid vaccination centres and drive-through Covid vaccination centres in Gurugram, Haryana. Effective use of Kashi Covid Response Centre (KCRC) to provide a one-stop solution for all Covid related queries of common citizens in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh."
The other initiatives lauded by Bhushan include the establishment and operation of isolation centres and Covid Care Centres with the active cooperation of Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh; a digital portal for real-time tracking bed occupancy, oxygen consumption in all 102 hospitals as well as the availability of ambulances in Gurugram, Haryana.
Surprisingly, despite the claims of the Bihar government to bring down the Covid-19 positivity rate below 5 per cent, the state has no "best initiative" to showcase.
The initiatives of Ayush Ministry also find the mention, including utilisation of Ayush medicines and Ayush health facilities for Covid management in the UT of Chandigarh, and distribution of Ayush Kadha in Haat Bazaars of district Janjgir Champa, Chhattisgarh.
