Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Scientists, doctors, and government officials have already warned of strong likelihood of the third wave of Covid-19 in India. However, experts have different opinions about the severity of the next wave. While some says the third wave won’t be as severe as the 2nd, others estimate the country may see more infectious variants that will bypass the immunity achieved through vaccination and previous infections. The Delta variant of coronavirus is thought to be responsible for up to 60 per cent of the cases during the second wave. The super-contagious variant has spread to over 100 countries worldwide, according to the WHO. Now, there is also Delta Plus variant, which is a mutation of the widespread Delta strain, in India. In addition to these contagious variants, a large proportion of the country’s population is unvaccinated. Given these facts, a third wave of Covid-19 seems certain to happen.
Dr Samiran Panda, the Head of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), had predicted that the third wave of COVID 19 could happen around the end of August but it can be avoided if we are more careful. If it happens, the impact will depend on the implementation of preventive measures and the pace of vaccination. Dr Panda suggested that vaccination efforts should be ramped up to mitigate the impact of a possible third wave. People are also appealed not to lower their guard in terms of following COVID-19-appropriate behaviour.
How India Plans to Fight Third Covid Wave
Responding to multiple questions related to vaccination, fund utilization, and strategy to counter the third wave threat, the union health ministry recently told the Parliament that they had taken lessons from the second wave and multiple steps have been taken in the last few months.
As per the health ministry, vaccination of beneficiaries aged 18 years and above is expected to be completed by December 2021.
Regarding the preparation against the threat of the third wave, the health ministry informed the house that the government had announced Rs 23,128 crore package to create effective infrastructure to combat the third wave. The centre is providing support to states towards further strengthening of existing health infrastructure to ensure the availability of sufficient hospital beds, drugs, medical oxygen and other consumables to aid proper clinical care of COVID-19 patients.
Having learned lessons from the devastating second wave, the Delhi government is also making sure that there is adequate supply of those medical facilities that were in dire shortage in the peak second wave, in April and May. Further, the Delhi government is preparing to set up a total of 44 oxygen plants in the city.
What’s more, Delhi has set up two special task forces to handle the possible third wave of Covid-19. An eight-member pediatric special task force has been constituted for the management of Covid-19 in children, keeping in mind the possible effect of the third wave on children. A state-level expert committee comprising of 13 officers will be working on action plan to reduce the impact of the possible third wave, such as increasing Delhi’s health infrastructure, supply of medicines and oxygen.
Acknowledging the threat of the Delta Plus variant, two genome sequencing labs have been opened in Delhi one in central Delhi’s Loknayak Hospital and the other in south Delhi’s Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences. To overcome the shortage of medical staff, Delhi government said it is planning to train 5,000 community health assistants so that they can deployed as additional workforce.
Upskilling courses for Healthcare Workers
Preparing for the third wave of Covid-19, Aster Hospitals, Bangalore has commenced an advanced life support training in paediatrics with special focus around COVID in children. The aim is to train healthcare professionals in tackling the third wave and enable them to assist the doctors while they are treating the patients, the hospital said in a release.
According to the hospital, the customized training schedule varying from 2 days intensive workshop to 6 weeks self-paced course will include 50 nurse trainees and Rapid response team members in the first batch who will be taught about basic and advanced life support, identification of a sick child, COVID specific – signs, symptoms, clinical course, and early warning scores for hospitalized patients under monitoring, etc.
Additionally, the healthcare group is also conducting simulation-based training for nurses to prepare them for the third wave of the COVID-19 virus and beyond.
