BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has directed all private hospitals to ensure that their employees have undergone training on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) within next seven days. The direction came in the wake of rise in Covid-19 cases in at least four private hospitals in the city. More than 40 employees, including doctors of these hospitals have tested positive in the recent times.
The Directorate of Medical Education and Training has asked the hospitals to establish dedicated fever clinic and reserve an isolated area for management of suspect and confirmed cases of Covid-19. The isolation facilities need to be managed by dedicated staff who will not be deployed in other areas of the hospital. Hospitals can not transfer Covid positive patients to dedicated hospitals unless they are stabilised and transferable. Since no conveyance is allowed for transportation of Covid-19 patients, the patients will be transported in a dedicated ambulance with use of recommended PPE by the staff and after transportation the vehicles need to be sanitised.
The directorate has also instructed the hospitals to notify all cases of influenza like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) to the district authorities or local urban bodies or the State public health authority.