By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 3 May: Addressing a press conference held at the Media Centre in the Secretariat, today, Secretary, Health, Amit Negi said curfew in the state had been extended up to 6 May to break the transmission chain of Covid infection. He claimed that the strategy of the government was to first test, trace, isolate, treat and vaccinate in a five-step process. The objective behind the micro containment zones was to ensure that infection from a particular area did not spread to other areas. Negi claimed that the number of patients recovering and getting discharged was also constantly increasing. Over 90 percent of the Corona cases were recovering by remaining in home isolation. The administration was also constantly monitoring patients living in isolation.
He added that around 1500 to 2,000 different types of calls were being received at 104 control rooms, including WhatsApp calls and landline calls. Now, the people could also seek medical advice from anywhere through e-Sanjeevani. This would greatly benefit the people living in the remote areas and no one would have to leave home unnecessarily.
Negi further stated that, at the request of the state government, for vaccination for those above 45 years, 2 lakh doses of vaccines would be reaching soon. This had been confirmed by the Government of India. An additional 1.2 lakh does of Covaxin would also be reaching soon. He claimed that the vaccination programme in Uttarakhand was going on smoothly. The Health Secretary disclosed that the Panchayati Raj Department was monitoring the situation in the rural areas and also ensuring that people in isolation were staying home and getting due medical care. Information was being regularly received on migrants returning to villages from other states. Secretary Dr Pankaj Kumar Pandey disclosed that continuous distribution of Remdesivir was going on. The Government of India had increased the state’s quota of Remdesivir injections and 2,000 more injections were on their way. These would be sent to hospitals requiring the same. The administration was also crosschecking whether the injection was reaching the right person or not.
He claimed that the assessment done by experts had revealed that a large number of persons with Covid symptoms were still not getting tested and reporting the infection on time and were seeking hospitalisation only when their condition worsened with oxygen saturation level falling below 70 percent, making it difficult for the doctors to treat them. He urged those having symptoms to immediately get medication and get tested as soon as possible. If the treatment began early, it wasn’t likely to turn serious. IG Amit Sinha said that 115 places were raided, in which four cases were filed and 6 people were arrested. Remdesivir taken on someone’s name was being given to someone else in one case and some cases were detected regarding blackmarketing of Oxymeters and also of conducting RTPCR at higher than the prescribed rates.
