BENGALURU: In a video address to doctors, PG students, and medicos in Karnataka on World Health Day, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar stressed on the need to rethink public health safety to be able to handle life threatening epidemics like Corona in the future. We cannot foresee how things will turn out but empathy and patience will see us through these tough times, he said.
“Absence of a vaccine is making this fight against COVID-19 tougher. There are serious concerns on safety of front line health workers, care givers and doctors who are working round the clock, fighting the deadly battle. It is all the more difficult as we have only one doctor for 1,500 people in India. Many doctors in our country have also tested positive for coronavirus,” Sudhakar said.
He said that this year we are celebrating the role of nurses and midwives who are keeping the world healthy. “Only 19 per cent of those infected are above 60 years but they form 63 % of the fatality rate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa have taken strict measures in this regard and we need to win this fight at any cost.”
He said that initiatives taken by the government have helped curtail the spread of the virus. “The state has come down from the second or third place, to the ninth or tenth place. I thank doctors, nurses, ASHA workers, pourakarmikas, and police. We have procured ventilators, PPE, ICU beds for this war on COVID-19,” he added.
COVID dashboard to show real-time data
Bengaluru: Karnataka has come forward to bring in real time data of COVID-19 cases on one platform, on: COVID19DashBoard.karnataka.gov.in. The dashboard will have all coronavirus related information, including positive cases, patients under quarantine, those who have had primary or secondary contact, hospitals and labs. It will give information on district, taluk, city, and ward wise information to urban areas, while gram panchayat or village wise information to rural areas. The dashboard will have live data and information from multiple sources.