हिंदी
Haryana took concrete and immediate measures to control the pandemic – Anil Vij
State Government shares experiences with Thailand Government to contain the spread of COVID – Sh. Vij
Haryana first state in country to start issuing Daily Bulletin on COVID-19 data – Health Minister
Chandigarh, August 18– Haryana Health Minister, Sh. Anil Vij said that in future, 100 per cent cooperation will be given to the Government of Thailand so that everyone can be saved from highly contagious COVID virus. He said that today the world is suffering from this pandemic but Haryana has taken concrete and immediate measures to contain its spread.
Sh. Vij gave this information during a webinar organised with Thailand Government regarding the State Goverment’s experience to handle COVID Crisis Management during the Delta variant spread.
Encapsulating the effective COVID Management Strategy of the State as a collaborative effort, the Health Minister, Sh. Anil Vij specified that timely proactive measures like effective implementation of lockdown, setting up of molecular testing laboratories and COVID Care Centres, Oxygen helpline (to ensure its availability during second wave), conducting numerous surveys so as to gauge the penetration of the disease, providing tele-medicine, providing free medical treatment and medical aid to people Below Poverty Line (BPL), constituting State and District Level Committees, dedicated Haryana Village General Health Check-up Scheme in rural areas et al helped in combating the spread of disease thereby saving lives.
Besides this, an effective implementation of vaccination drive was a major factor which helped in combating the virus. Till date approximately 14 million doses have been given provided at free of Cost, he said. Moreover, Sh. Vij assured that 100 per cent cooperation will be extended to the Thailand Government in the future.
Enlisting the various proactive measures, he said that Haryana is the first state in the country to issue daily Bulletin on COVID-19 statistics since February 3, 2020 to decrease the panic amongst general public.
Sh. Vij elaborated that the first case in the State was reported on March 17, 2020 at District Civil Hospital Gurugram & immediately the health authorities swung into action and state wide protocols were put into action. Furthermore, two molecular labs were set up by March 31, 2020, to meet the load of COVID testing. Till Date 18 new government labs and 21 private labs have been added for expanding the RT-PCR testing capacity to 1,30,000 daily. More than 11 million tests have been conducted till date.
Sharing the various steps taken he said that the Government of India implemented complete lockdown in the country in April 2020 for more than 40 days to break the chain of infection, the same was strictly followed in the State of Haryana. It was continued for months with step wise relaxation. Even during the second wave, State implemented partial lockdown, to control the spread.
He stated that to address the infrastructure gaps dedicated COVID Care Centres for mild patients were established with the bed strength of more than 40,000. In all the 22 districts hospitals, more than 24,000 dedicated COVID beds have been provided. ICU beds with ventilators and Bi-pap services were set-up in all Government Civil Hospitals and capacity was enhanced in Medical Colleges and Private/ Corporate Hospitals. Mapping of all the District Civil Hospitals with all the Govt. Medical Colleges for referral of sick patients, requiring tertiary level care.
At the same time, procurement wing of Health Department of Haryana i.e. HMSCL ensured the supply of equipment, drugs and consumables required for treatment of the COVID patients, he added. Also, to bridge the gap in Human resource, more than 1,000 medical and para-medical personnel were recruited. Online training and capacity building through webinars were organized by senior clinicians to improve the clinical outcome.
Sh. Vij apprised the officials that around 13 million people were screened in a house to house survey in rural, urban and migratory slum households by ASHA Workers and around 30,000 patients of Influenza Like Illness (ILI) were diagnosed. He shared that 450 mobile health teams provided basic medical services along with testing facilities in far flung areas. The E-Sanjeevani and tele consultation services were set up to cater to the health needs of patients during lockdown.
He said that the main stay of the management during pandemic was Home Isolation; COVID patients with none or mild symptoms were home isolated, sparing hospital beds for more sick patients. During second wave of COVID-19, the State experienced increase of more than 10,000 cases per day, and the number of patients under home isolation also increased, reached maximum up to 2,30,000, in the month of May 2021. Sharing other initiatives, Sh. Vij said that State and District Level Monitoring Committees were constituted. It was ensured that Home isolation teams visit the patients regularly. The patients were also called on a daily basis and most importantly, a separate team ensured the feedback from patients. The patients were also provided with Home isolation kits free of cost, which contained Booklet for information, pulse-oximeter, steamer, digital thermometer, medicines and AYUSH immunity boosters.
He said that with the onset of second wave of COVID in 2021, the number of active cases rose manifold approximately 1.15 lakhs as compared to 20,000 cases during the first wave, resulting in increased hospitalization; accordingly, the challenge to meet the demand of oxygen, drugs, beds consumables etc. He said that State Level Committee of various Administrative Secretaries was constituted to assess oxygen demand of COVID Hospitals. The Oxygen audit for analyzing the District Hospital requirement and accordingly need based allocation was done by the committee. Divulging details regarding various steps taken to enhance the oxygen availability he said that nine Oxygen Generation Plants were set up to meet the rising demand of oxygen for COVID patients. He added that the State plans to setup 130 more Oxygen Generating Plants for Government Health Centres having bed capacity of 50 and above. Also, 700 ventilators, 650 Bi-pap machines and 5,000 oxygen concentrators have been made functional during this short span of time.
Sh Vij stated that the increased requirement of Healthcare personnel has been met out by Medical Education Department by posting interns & Post Graduate Medical Students of Medical Colleges & Pharmacy, LT, Nursing students in various District Hospitals for strengthening the health services.
He shared with the officials of the Thailand Government that to prevent the spread in rural areas Haryana Village General Health Checkup Scheme was initiated from May 15, 2021 & villages with high COVID load were taken on priority and Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) was the main stay of screening. Till date, total 1,73,79,228 were screened and 1,10,928 cases of ILI were detected and 5,164 positive cases were diagnosed, isolated and treated to prevent the spread of disease.
In addition to free testing and treatment at all government hospitals inclusive of ICU care and high end medicines and experimental drugs, such as Remdesivir, tocilizumab were also given. The treatment services were also free for patients referred to private hospitals. The Health department fixed upper cap of charges for COVID testing and treatment in all private hospitals. A grant of Rs 5,000 was given to Below Poverty Line (BPL) COVID patients in home isolation and Ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakhs in case of death. Health personnel deployed for COVID duty were given Life insurance cover of Rs. 50 lakhs.
Besides the COVID services, all essential services, such as, routine immunization, institutional deliveries and sick new born care, 24×7 emergency services, including surgery were operational all through the pandemic.
The webinar started with the address of Former Deputy Prime Minister, Thailand, Dr. Suwit Khunkitti hoped that the dialogue with the experts of the Haryana Government will definitely be beneficial. He said that it is important to understand the steps that led to sharp and speedy decline of the disease in the State. The Minister of Public Health Deputy Minister of Public Health, Thailand, Dr. Satit Pitutacha said the COVID is evolving and is unpredictable in nature and their Government was keen on understanding the steps taken to combat the crisis.
Thereafter, a comprehensive presentation was given by Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Sh. Rajeev Arora and Special Secretary to Government, Haryana, Health Department, Sh. Prabhjot Singh. Special Secretary, Medical Education & Research Department, Dr. Shaleen was also present in the webinar.
Sh. Arora specified that one of the major steps taken which has been instrumental in restricting the spread of COVID was Post Covid Care Death Audit. Among other steps taken was setting up of Umang Clinics which helped people cope with mental illness. He added that the State has prepared COVID appropriate health infrastructure and is fully prepared to tackle the speculated COVID third wave.
Speaking on the occasion, Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Haryana, Medical Education and Research Department, Sh. Alok Nigam said that the entire State machinery got into action in the time of crisis and were able to set up laboratories etc. in a short span of time. He said he was grateful to the team of doctors especially Dr. Dhruv Chaudhry and Dr. Sushila Kataria who played a pivotal role in handling the situation.
Special Secretary to Government, Haryana, Health Department, Sh. Prabhjot Singh shared during the presentation that the E-Sanjeevani OPD was implemented in the state since May 1, 2020 and is presently rendering services to the people of the State 24 hours. He elaborated that a 24-hour COVID-19 helpline was also started to cater to the people of the State.
A presentation was given by Director General Health Services, Smt. Veena Singh in which she shared the steps taken by the government to deal with the pandemic. She shared that effective COVID Management strategies has proved beneficial and the State has very few fresh cases presently.
