Rajasthan govt gears up for possible third wave of coronavirus

Ahead of the third wave of COVID-19 in the country, Rajasthan is gearing up for the wave and 200 ICU beds have been made ready for children in Jaipur's 800-bed JK Lone hospital while 600 beds can be converted into ICU facilities if required.

Jaipur: Rajasthan is gearing up for a possible third wave of coronavirus and 200 ICU beds have been made ready for children in Jaipur's 800-bed JK Lone hospital while 600 beds can be converted into ICU facilities if required. Health minister Dr Raghu Sharma on Monday said that special attention is being paid to strengthening medical facilities in all the children's hospitals of the state as this age segment will be the most affected during the possible third wave of the corona. He said that Sir Padampat Mother and Child Care Institute (JK Lone) along with other hospitals in Jaipur are mobilising all the necessary resources for the treatment of children.

Addressing a review meeting organized at the Superintendent's office in JK Lone on Monday, he said that soon around 200 ICU beds would be available at this leading hospital. It is expected that a large number of children will be affected in the possible third wave of the corona, so keeping that in view 600 beds in JK Lone hospital will be kept reserved for corona patients. All these 600 beds can be converted into ICU beds at the time of need. All beds in the hospital are connected to the centralized oxygen system. He said that an oxygen plant is being set up in the hospital and soon the JK Lone hospital will have around 1500 litre oxygen capacity.

The Minister said that the preparations for corona treatment will not affect the 200 bed NICU unit and the treatment of children will continue at the unit as usual. Apart from this, if there is a shortage of beds for treatment of other children, then arrangements can be made in Sethi Colony and Gangaur Hospital. He inspected the hospital premises and monitored the construction and development work including the place where a CT scan unit has to be set up.

He directed officials to pay special attention to completing all the work within the prescribed time limit while maintaining its quality. He expressed satisfaction over the cleanliness in the hospital and emphasized the need to maintain it. SMS Medical College principal Dr Sudhir Bhandari, JK Lone Hospital superintendent Dr Arvind Shukla, Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Narottam Sharma and other senior doctors were present during the inspection of the hospital.

(IANS)