Assam zeroes in on curbing COVID fatalities during odd hours in hospitals
The Assam health department has embarked on an odd-hour management programme at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) to curb the mortality rate of COVID patients during late night and early morning hours.
Besides, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras will be installed inside all the emergency wards to monitor how COVID patients are being taken care of by the hospital staff on night-early morning shift.
“From the past two-three days, we have been following the odd-hour management exercise in both AMCH and GMCH, whereby senior/experience doctors will also be available in hospital during odd hours (11pm to 7am), which is a crucial period as most of the mortality cases have been reported during the period in the absence of senior doctors,” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters during a sudden visit to GMCH around 2.30am on Sunday.
“I visited AMCH on Saturday and have come here at GMCH to supervise if the odd-hour management system is being implemented according to plan,” Sarma said.
The chief minister also took stock of the oxygen generation plant at GMCH, saying that the hospital has adequate oxygen for COVID patients.
Sarma said the curfew hours were advanced after discussions to 12 noon from Sunday, as the earlier restriction of movement of individuals from 2pm yielded positive results with daily COVID cases coming down to 1000 from 1500 to 1600 cases in Guwahati.
“So if the trend continues for another week and cases slide to 300 to 400 cases here, we can accommodate all patients in hospitals and avoid home quarantine. Then the situation, like last year, will improve,” he said.
Regarding vaccine supply, the chief minister said that of late, there has been limited supply from both Bharat Biotech (Hyderabad) and Serum Institute (Pune).
“However, about 56,000 persons were vaccinated in the state on Saturday. As of now, we have about 2lakh doses of both Covaxin and Covishield vaccines,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, Sarma visited AMCH and took a comprehensive review of the COVID situation in the district.
He also reviewed the precautionary measures adopted by the administration apart from enforcement of COVID protocols and treatment facilities being provided to COVID patients at AMCH.
(Edited by Christopher Gatphoh)
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