As the new variant of COVID continues to spread globally, India on Tuesday conducted drills nationwide to check whether the country's health facilities are ready to deal with a possible spike.
As part of the assessments, India's health minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital in the morning.
“To ensure there isn’t a COVID surge in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked us to be careful. The government is also preparing, in case instances of COVID increase. Today drills are being conducted across COVID hospitals in the country to make sure people get proper treatment,” Mandaviya told reporters.
The drills were conducted in accordance with the advisory issued by the federal government on Monday.
What Are Drills Designed For?
The drills are taking place to assess the state's capacity to deal with COVID patients, including the availability of health facilities in all districts and the number of isolation beds, oxygen-supported beds, ICU (intensive care unit) beds and ventilator-supported beds hospitals are ready to provide.
Apart from this, the focus is also on how many healthcare professionals there are trained in COVID management and healthcare professionals skilled in ventilator management and operation of medical oxygen plants.
Health ministers of all states are taking part in the initiative.
As coronavirus cases are surging in other countries, especially in neighboring China, the Delhi government has approved a budget of INR 1.04Bln ($12.5Mln) for hospitals to buy general medicines as part of the preparations to deal with any COVID emergency.
In the state of Karnataka, the local government introduced precautionary measures, advising the use of masks in public places, including educational institutions. Two doses of COVID vaccine were also made compulsory at bars and restaurants in the state.
Other states have also urged people to wear masks in public and follow COVID protocols to help prevent the spread of the virus.