Conduct mock drills on Dec 27 to assess Covid infra: Centre to states

Bhubaneswar: The Centre today asked all states and Union Territories to conduct mock drills at all health facilities, including dedicated Covid hospitals, on December 27 (Tuesday) to assess the readiness to deal with any surge in the virus infection in the near future.

“Taking note of the surge in Covid-19 trajectory in many countries across the globe, it is necessary that the public health measures are put in place in all states/ UTs to meet any exigency. The health facilities in all states and UTs should be in a state of readiness to meet any increase in clinical care needs due to surge in virus infection,” said Secretary to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Rajesh Bhushan in a letter to the Health department secretaries of all states and UTs today.

The objective of this mock drill is to ensure operational readiness of these health facilities for Covid management, Bhushan said.

The health facilities will focus on their infrastructure including bed capacity, human resource capacity, referral services, testing capacity and availability of logistics during the mock drill, said the letter.

Availability of oxygen supported beds, trained doctors and health staff, medical oxygen plants, ventilators, Covid testing kits, essential drugs, PPE kits and N-95 masks is crucial for fighting the rise in virus infection, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The mock drill may be conducted under the overall guidance of the district collectors in due consultation with the officials of the Health department, said the letter.