BENGALURU: After a slump, the Covid cases in the state and country are rising and the Union Health Ministry has directed all the states to conduct Covid mock drills on April 10 and 11 to check the preparedness of both government and private hospitals to tackle any spike in the caseload.
Speaking to TNIE, Victoria Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Ramesh Krishna said, “On Monday, we had a meeting with our staff and inspected the facilities at Victoria. We will conduct a mock drill at ‘H block’, dedicated exclusively to Covid, on Tuesday. Mock drills will be held to check oxygen availability, bed capacity etc at Victoria Hospital and all the wings associated with the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute that include Vani Vilas, Minto and the super speciality hospital and trauma care.”
Dr Sudha B M, Covid Nodal Officer at Jayanagar General Hospital, said, “As there are other dedicated hospitals for Covid, like Bowring and Victoria, we have not got any communication from the health department to carry out mock drills this time.”
Dr Yatheesh Govindaiah, president of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA), said, “Mock drills are always good to check for preparedness to handle the situation and private hospitals are carrying out drills as per government guidelines.”
While Covid cases have been rising in the past four weeks, Dr Govindaiah said there is no need to worry, as there are not many hospitalisations and patients are getting well as out-patients, and insisted that people who have not taken booster doses to get the jab at the earliest.