From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Apr 27: A massive contingent of 1,100 trained personnel will be deputed to man the call centre to provide guidance to Covid home care patients, health and family welfare minister Dr K Sudhakar said in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Addressing a media conference after the meeting of the Covid Task Force to review the situation, the minister said the call centre presently had a staff of 400 and it will be increased to 1,100.
Dr Sudhakar, who is also in charge of medical education, said the state government has decided to create the new elaborate system at a cost of Rs 11 crore and the staff will be deputed for a period of six months.
File photo
In addition, comprehensive telemedicine to provide medical consultations is being created at a cost of Rs 20 crore, he said.
The minister, who was accompanied by deputy chief minister Govind M Karjol and primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar, said a make-shift hospital with 2,000 to 3,000 beds to tackle the shortage of hospital in the city in the next 15 to 20 days.
Victoria, Bowring and Rajiv Gandhi Hospital premises will be used for creating the make-shift hospital facility. Each of the hospitals will have 200 to 250 ICU ventilators beds besides 60% of oxygen and 20% of high-flow oxygen, he said adding that such a facility will be created in all districts.
Covid Care Centres in all districts
Special well-equipped Covid Care Centres with 50 to 100 beds will be established in each of the districts in the state, the minister said.
Each of the Covid Care Centres will have 10% to 20% oxygenated beds and 20 beds will be equipped with 20 portable oxygen facilities.
Dr Sudhakar said the state government is trying to import 40,000 portable oxygen units.
One or two Covid Care Centres are proposed to be established in each of the assembly constituencies in the city, the minister said.
Pointing out that the number of positive cases had come down by 3,000 a day after the clamping of curfew in Mumbai, he said the state government decided to impose the curfew restrictions throughout the State and appealed to the people by not going out needlessly. The infected people with mild symptoms should refrain from going out and spread the disease, he said.
Dr Sudhakar said the state government was not hiding facts and deliberately fudging figures. "Let us not bring politics in the present scenario. Our focus should be on controlling the pandemic,’’ he said.
The Narendra Modi government at the Centre has brought vaccination for the Covid pandemic just as Lord Hanuman brought the magic medicine Sanjeevini. Let us make the best use of the vaccination and all of us should get inoculated and follow the Covid guidelines, Dr Sudhakar said.