The government started random sampling of 2% of the passengers on Saturday in response to the rising trajectory of Covid-19 cases in many countries across the world.
The Union health ministry on Saturday made a negative RT-PCR Covid test report mandatory for all passengers coming to India from China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said with Covid cases surging in these countries, especially China, the Air Suvidha platform will be used for uploading the test reports. If the arriving passengers have any symptoms or are detected to be Covid-positive on arrival, these passengers would be quarantined immediately, the minister said. The government started random sampling of 2% of the passengers on Saturday in response to the rising trajectory of Covid-19 cases in many countries across the world.
The Union health ministry has decided to hold mock drills at all health facilities, including identified Covid dedicated facilities, across the country on Tuesday to ensure operational readiness. Rajesh Bhushan, health secretary, has written to states and Union territories to put in place all public health measures to meet any exigencies. The drill was being done to monitor the status of readiness of health facilities and follow up on any gaps.
The mock drill exercise would focus on the availability of facilities across all districts and bed capacities, including isolation beds, oxygen support beds, ICU beds and ventilator supported beds. State/UTs must ensure optimal availability of human resources from doctors to nurses, paramedics, ASHAs and Anganwadi workers and all resources trained in Covid-19 management. They must have advanced and basic life support ambulances and a functional ambulance call centre.
The drill would focus on the number and capacity of Covid testing labs, RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Test kits, availability of testing equipment, reagents and also the availability of essential drugs, ventilators, BIPAP, SPO system PPE kits and N-95 masks. It will also review the availability of medical oxygen, oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders, PSA plants, liquid medical oxygen storage tanks and medical gas pipeline systems.
The health ministry has asked states to focus on medical oxygen, which was a vital resource for pandemic management and a reliable oxygen supply was critical for saving lives. The Union government had supported states by installing and commissioning PSA plants, oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders and other oxygen-related infrastructure to ensure the availability of medical oxygen across the country. The ministry was holding weekly review meetings with all states/UTs to ensure that all medical oxygen equipment and SOPs on the rational use of oxygen has been shared with all states and UTs by MoHFW. Though the Covid cases in the country are low and not surging as of now, to face any challenges in the future, it was important to operationalise and maintain this medical infrastructure, the health ministry said.
