BHUBANESWAR: As the coronavirus is spreading like wildfire in rural areas in the second wave and the limited number of hospitals dedicated to treat Covid-19 patients are overwhelmed, the BJP on Friday urged the State government to shift its focus to primary and secondary healthcare centres.
In a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, three BJP legislators said much focus has been placed on the scaling up of hospital capacities with ICU and ventilators in urban areas. The surging Covid cases in rural and tribal hinterland and increasing deaths demand quick decisions to add infrastructure in PHCs, CHCs and DHHs to treat corona-affected people.
Signatories to the joint letters, Opposition Chief Whip in Odisha Assembly and Keonjhar MLA Mohan Majhi, Loisinga MLA Mukesh Mahaling and Paralakhemundi MLA K Narayan Rao, requested the Chief Minister to equip the PHCs and CHCs with at least 20 beds with oxygen, ventilators and required trained manpower to manage the centres.
“The manpower crisis plaguing the rural hospitals need to be reevaluated and addressed on war-footing to save many precious lives. We reiterate our demand for formation of Covid Crisis Management Committees at panchayat level for mass vaccination,” they said.