Rupesh Samant

Panaji, Jun 4: Goa government’s task force formed to tackle possible third wave of Covid-19 pandemic on Friday decided to train the paediatricians and nurses in the state on protocols to treat the virus in children.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant, who chaired the task force meeting in Panaji, told reporters that the training of the paediatricians and the nurses would begin from Monday.

A special team of experts from Goa Medical College and Hospital, a state-government run apex hospital, would be training these 120 paeditricians and score of other nurses, he said.

Sawant said that the infrastructure required to tackle the possible third wave of the pandemic is being put in place.

“The required equipment for setting up the paediatric intensive care units (ICUs) will arrive in the state by June 10,” he said.

He said that the GMCH’s Super Speciality Block would be the main centre where the facilities for treating children would be set up while two other district hospitals – North Goa District Hospital in Mapusa town and South Goa District Hospital in Margao town – have been kept to cater for emergencies.

The chief minister said that the state government has already categorized parents of children up to the age of ten years as a priority in the vaccination process.

He appealed all the parents to get vaccinated as the facility is available at all the 82 vaccination centres.