BHUBANESWAR: After spending hundreds of crores for facilities developed in partnership with private hospitals for COVID care in the last two years, Odisha government has finally decided to strengthen public health facilities for COVID treatment.
In view of the rising number of COVID-19 infections and non functioning of private dedicated COVID Hospital (DCH) at district level, the State government has decided to augment facilities in district headquarters hospitals (DHHs) and medical college and hospitals (MCHs).
As per the decision taken at a high level meeting, each DHH and MCH will have a DCH facility having general oxygen beds, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and High Dependency Unit (HDU). While SCB MCH at Cuttack, MKCG MCH at Berhampur and VIMSAR at Burla will have 40 beds including ICU, HDU, OT and labour room, the rest MCHs will have 20 beds with ICU facility. All DHH will have 20 beds including ICU/HDU and 20 beds, including five ICU/HDU will be considered as one unit.
Initially, each government hospital will have a facility of one unit which can be expanded or incremented by adding one more unit when 50 per cent (pc) of available beds are filled up. When the number of patients admitted is less than 10, the facility will be managed by in-house staff of the MCH or DHH.
For smooth management of the DCHs, the CDMOs and MCH Superintendents have been allowed to recruit additional manpower. As decided, one doctor and two nursing officers will be recruited per shift for 20 beds besides one pharmacist and one lab technician per shift for 100 beds.
In addition, a nursing officer in a ratio of 1:3 for ICU, one each per shift for OT and labour room will be recruited.
The medical colleges will be provided with one transport vehicle each while the DHH will be provided with transport vehicles as per caseload. The municipal corporations will get dead body carriers.
Similarly, dedicated ambulances will be provided to SCB MCH, MKCG MCH, VIMSAR, Capital Hospital and all municipal corporations.
Director of Health Services Dr Bijay Mohapatra said barring the SUM COVID Hospital where 90 beds have been kept ready, private DCHs may not be required now as the number of patients being hospitalised is very few. Only about one pc of the total active caseload is in hospital isolation, he added.
New cases of coronavirus continued to surface in the State. However, daily infection count dropped marginally as 816 persons tested positive in the last 24 hours compared to 876 cases on the previous day.
The cases included 118 children in 0 to 18 years age group.
Daily test positivity rate, however, slightly increased from 4.49 per cent to 4.59 per cent as 17,787 samples were drawn for testing in the last 24 hours compared to 19,409 samples on the previous day.
A COVID death was also reported in the last 24 hours. Health officials said a 44-year-old woman from Puri suffering from chronic liver disease and peptic ulcer succumbed to COVID. The fatality increased State's COVID toll to 9,129.