ITANAGAR, Sep 28: The state government recently took stock of the Covid-19 situation and proposed an action plan for immediate augmentation of services and required intervention for Covid-19 management by scaling up the health facilities for moderate and severe Covid-19 patients.
In a meeting attended by the chief secretary, the principal finance secretary, the planning commissioner, the commissioner and secretary to CM, health officials and others on 25 September, the officers noted that the DHCH in Midpu is not being utilized fully, and suggested that it be used as a multi-utility Covid management facility.
The DCHC will operate as a flu clinic and a treatment facility for mild to moderate symptomatic patients.
It was also decided to renovate and upgrade the civic structures and medical equipment at the MLA apartments’ campus in Chimpu.
In view of the recent rise in cases, it was decided that all those who are symptomatic and test negative by rapid antigen tests (RAT) will be subjected to RT-PCR/TrueNat testing. The cost of RT-PCR tests will be borne by the government till 31 October.
The cost of RATs will also be made uniform for APST and non-APST people, at the rate of Rs 250.
Special emphasis will be given to testing the elderly and patients with diabetes, hypertension, cancer and other comorbidities in all the districts.
The district administrations will be given the responsibility to reach out to all such persons in the vulnerable group as part of the pandemic surveillance.
In view of the rising cases in the Itanagar capital region, the state government also decided that doctors engaged in administrative work will be reassigned to Covid duties for the time being.
The ICR DMO will also have five flying squads for contact tracing, on-the-spot sample collection, and testing.
Also noting the lack of skilled medical personnel, the government has proposed to take the list of MOs who have applied for the APPSC and explore the possibility of engaging them for six months, based on their final year MBBS marks, purely on the basis of honorarium.
The government will also continue providing online psychiatric support, besides taking up other vital issues connected to Covid management in the state.
