DoNER Minister checks Covid preparedness of northeast

New Delhi : Union Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Minister G. Kishan Reddy on Wednesday held a review meeting to monitor the preparedness of the eight states of the region with respect to the Covid-19 situation.He called on all the state Health Mnisters to develop medical and health infrastructure, procure medicines and procure Covid-19 specific essentials such as masks, PPE kits and oxygen concentrators etc.He also urged the states to use all media and communication channels to bring awareness about the 3rd wave due to the Omicron variant.The Minister called on the state officials to ensure that all Covid specific protocols are followed and stressed on regular RT-PCR testing, and home isolation in the case of non-critical cases as per the standard operating procedures (SOPs) released by the Centre.He also requested all the 8 states to adopt the Teleconsultation platform eSanjeevani that has hubs at a district level to ensure that those under home isolation have access to regular health care and monitoring and also to ensure that they have supplies of essentials and medical kits.

Apart from this, Reddy advised strict enforcement measures and extensive testing and contact tracing measures. He said, all measures should be taken for observing Covid-appropriate behaviour and management of micro containment zones, wherever it becomes necessary.Joint Secretary, Health, Lav Agarwal, presented state specific observations and requested individual states to prioritise based on the specific issues highlighted for the respective states.During the meeting, brief presentations were given by the states on the steps taken to strengthen the monitoring and containment mechanism, measures taken to enforce the norms of Covid appropriate behaviour, testing of Omicron, status of buffer stocks of essential drugs, status of beds (normal, oxygen and ventilators) and functionality of oxygen supply equipment.The Union Minister directed a periodic review to monitor the Covid scenario in the region and assured to take up state specific issues with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for early redressal.