BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Government is all set to intensify surveillance of influenza like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) once again in view of the possibility of Covid-19 resurgence during the festive season and winter.Health facilities are being kept ready for treatment of cases that are expected to rise manifold if people do not adhere to Covid safety guidelines during the crucial period of November, December and January. The State Government is also mulling over possible restriction on public transportation.
Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said, there will be constant peak hour monitoring and extensive IEC campaigns to prevent large gatherings. Hospitals have been put in readiness to handle the surge in cases with ICU/HDU and general beds.Steps are also being taken to keep testing materials and drugs ready apart from augmenting oxygen supply across the State for any exigencies. While nine lakh testing kits are now available with the State, tenders have been floated for 15 lakh more kits which are expected to reach in next one fortnight.
The collectors, municipal commissioners and SPs have been directed to fine tune their preparedness at district level and alert all stakeholders. They have been asked to ensure stringent enforcement measures against deviation and laxity in complying with Covid guidelines.
Odisha to continue plasma therapy
Bhubaneswar: Even as Director General of ICMR Balram Bhargava indicated that the plasma therapy would soon be removed from the prescribed guidelines for Covid-19 treatment as it had hardly any effect on patients, Odisha Government on Thursday clarified that it would continue the therapy as long as it is officially banned. Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said no official communication from ICMR on scrapping convalescent plasma therapy has reached the State Government. “Since the patients who underwent the therapy in Odisha have responded well so far, we will continue it till we receive any communication from the Centre dropping the therapy from the treatment protocol,” he said.