‘Vaccinate all parents to prevent virus spread among children’

Mysore/Mysuru: Mysuru District In-Charge Secretary N. Jayaram held a high-level meeting at Zilla Panchayat Hall this morning to take stock of Mysuru’s preparedness to deal with a possible COVID-19 third wave, vaccinations and concerns over the threats future COVID waves could pose to children.

“It is difficult to say what the nature of the third wave will be, but it is very important for us to prepare for the future by learning from problems faced during the first and second wave. The first wave came all of a sudden and we did not know what to do and in the second wave, we were not prepared and we were ill-equipped. This should not happen in the third wave,” he said. 

He asked the officers to prepare an action plan of establishing COVID Care Centres, vaccinating all parents so that children can be protected, preparing indents for medicine and equipment procurement, coordinating with industries and IT companies for grants under Corporate Social Responsibility.

“Do not wait till the third wave strikes. Cases are already on the rise in Kerala. As Mysuru borders Kerala, we must be extra cautious. Advance preparation, arrangements of funds, distributing nutritious food to children, neonatal mothers and all the other vulnerable populations can prevent a catastrophe that happened during the earlier waves,” he noted.  

“The Health Department and the District Health Officer (DHO) must lead the efforts by planning on how much more oxygen and ICU beds will be required and how many facilities like field hospitals will have to be set up in near future. Ensure that medicines and other essential medical supplies are available in remote areas,” Jayaram said. 

He laid emphasis on large scale testing, tracing and vaccination and ensuring that the necessary facilities would be provided to the district in this regard. He directed the health staff, Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers and staff of Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres and Government Hospitals to work in tandem and combat the third wave effectively. 

DHO Dr. K.H. Prasad said that he has given necessary instructions and called for constant review in a bid to ensure that there is no lack in the health system. He directed officers to expedite the testing of Coronavirus samples and asked them to set up teams as per the requirement for sample testing.

There is a possibility a third wave may affect children more. In such a situation, it is necessary for hospital management to train the staff in this regard, so that if a third wave comes, lack of staff does not cause problems in treatment. Work will be done by dividing children into different groups as per their age,  he said.

“Right now, we have time to make preparations, so it is necessary that everyone works considering the seriousness of the subject. The District Administration is prepared to offer every possible help to hospitals,” Dr. Prasad noted. 

ADC Dr. B.S. Manjunathaswamy, MCC Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy, MUDA Commissioner Dr. D.B. Natesh, Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) Officer and COVID Nodal Officer Dr. M.S. Jayanth, DCP (Crime and Traffic) Geetha Prasanna, ASP Shivakumar and other district-level officers were present at the meeting.