Centre asks states to hold mock drills at health facilities on Tuesday

Taking note of a surge in Covid trajectory in many countries all states/ UTs requisite public health measures are put in place to meet any exigencies

PGurus Newsdesk

December 25, 2022

Taking note of a surge in Covid trajectory in many countries all states/ UTs requisite public health measures are put in place to meet any exigencies

Centre steps up Covid preparedness, asks states to undertake mock drills in hospitals on Dec 27

Amid rising Covid cases in many countries, especially China, the Centre has asked all the states and UTs to hold mock drills at all the health facilities, including identified Covid centers, across the country on Tuesday (December 27).

The mock drills may be done under the overall guidance of respective district collectors/ district magistrates in close consultation with officials of the health department of the state/ UTs.

“Taking note of a surge in Covid trajectory in many countries around the world, it is necessary that in all the states/ UTs, requisite public health measures are put in place to meet any exigencies. The preparedness of COVID-19 health facilities is crucial to ensure that states/ districts are in a state of readiness to meet the increase in clinical care needs due to any spurt in cases,” said Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, in a letter to all the states and UTs on Saturday.

Bhushan said that it has therefore been decided to hold mock drills at all health facilities, including identified Covid-dedicated health facilities, across the country on December 27. The objective of this exercise is to ensure the operational readiness of these health facilities for the management of COVID, he said.

The Centre has said that during this exercise, the focus shall be on the Geographically representative availability of health facilities covering all districts, Bed capacities like Isolation beds, oxygen-supported isolation beds, ICU beds, and ventilator-supported beds, and optimal availability of the human resources.

The Ministry has asked to ensure through mock drills the availability of healthcare professionals trained on COVID-19 management, availability of advanced and basic life support (ALSfBLS) ambulances and testing capacities, logistics availability, availability of essential drugs, ventilators, and medical oxygen.

“Follow-up on any gap assessment shall be required to be undertaken by the additional chief secretary, principal secretary, secretary (health), and or MD-NHM of states who will also be required to monitor the exercise personally under the overall guidance of the Health Minister of the respective states,” the letter said.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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