Upgrading its guard against the new ‘Omicron’ variant of novel coronavirus, the Uttar Pradesh government has taken a slew of measures, including stringent screening at airports, railway and bus stations and maintaining the presence of medical resources, oxygen plants and beds in the state.
In view of the cases of Omicron variant in other states of the country, in pursuance of the directives issued by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the process of genome sequencing of Covid samples has been intensified at Lucknow's KGMU, SGPGIMS, and medical colleges in Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Meerut.
In addition, the government has started working proactively in all the districts to control the spread of the new variant of novel coronavirus and other communicable diseases. While there is no situation at present which warrants panic or worry, the government has put over 73,000 ‘surveillance committees’ on alert mode to ensure thorough screening and timely identification, isolation and treatment of people showing mild symptoms to remove any chance of increased transmission of the virus or any water-borne, vector-borne diseases.
The authorities concerned have also been asked to continue extensive cleanliness, sanitisation and fogging drives to prevent the spread of other diseases.
With dedicated efforts of the Uttar Pradesh government towards making the state self-reliant in oxygen generation, nearly 530 oxygen-producing plants have been operationalised in the state. After successfully eliminating the second wave of COVID-19 outbreak, the state government has made foolproof arrangements, including pediatric ICUs and Neonatal ICUs in every medical college and district hospitals.
The government has instructed the Health department to expedite the process of setting up PICU/NICU in all the district hospitals and community health centres (CHCs) to ensure there is no shortage of beds to treat the children in any situation. Sick Newborn Care Units (SNCUs) are also being established at maternity hospitals. Simultaneously, action is also being taken to increase a minimum of 100 beds in every medical college of the state. The beds will be small in size and have railing on the sides.
Furthermore, the government has also ensured availability of all necessary equipment, including BiPAP machines and mobile X-ray machines. Along with this, the State's 3011 primary health centres (PHCs) and 855 CHCs are being equipped with all state-of-the-art resources. The presence of oxygen plants has also been mandatory in hospitals with over 50-bed capacity. Besides hospitals and medical colleges, oxygen plants are also being installed at the CHCs and the PHCs across the state.
