BHUBANESWAR: AS cyclone Jawad approaches Odisha coast, the Health and Family Welfare department geared up for adequate arrangements in health facilities amid the threat of Covid-19 third wave.
Districts and municipal corporations have been directed to open a control room round-the-clock and designate district and block-level nodal officers for continuous monitoring and supervision. The officials will have to make adequate power backup arrangements for all the hospitals, labs, vaccine cold chain and oxygen generation units besides, other supportive medical facilities in the districts likely to be affected by the cyclone.
After a high-level meeting on preparedness, Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET) Dr Ramaraman Mohanty said since government offices are functioning with less manpower due to Covid-19 situation, a suitable personnel arrangement for meeting the disaster management requirements will be put in place.
“CDMOs have been asked to make necessary arrangements for conducting rapid antigen tests of people before evacuating them to the shelters. Medical care and public health interventions are being planned for camps housing evacuated populations. Rapid tests will be conducted for symptomatic people in camps followed by RT-PCR testing,” he said.
Meanwhile, the district surveillance units and public health teams mobilised for Covid management have been reoriented on possible outbreak of epidemic-prone diseases such as influenza, measles, acute diarrhoeal diseases, dysentery, leptospirosis, dengue and malaria.
Collectors and municipal commissioners have been instructed for deployment of mobile health teams and opening of medical relief centres wherever required after landfall. They will ensure unhindered movement of oxygen tankers, if required.