Hospitals in Visakhapatnam preparing for a third wave of Covid-19

As the partial lockdown is coming close to an end in the city, district officials are gearing up for the hospitals in Visakhapatnam to be ready for a third wave. Currently, Covid-19 cases in the city have declined to below 200 reports and there has been a worry among the district officials on how to tackle the situation if the lockdown ends and people start moving outside for their regular works. It has been stated by ICMR, in collaboration with Imperial College of London, that a third-wave pandemic is unlikely to be as severe as the second wave. However, they say it remains important to scale up vaccination coverage to mitigate the eventuality. 

Taking precautionary measures to tackle the third wave of the pandemic which is likely to affect more children, District Medical and Health Officials in Visakhapatnam have made around 1000 beds available at all the district’s hospitals. KGH and VIMS are already equipped with 200 beds, Government Hospital for Mental Care with 90 beds and few beds in Government Victoria Hospital (Gosha Hospital). Also, 70 percent of private hospitals, including GITAM, NRI and Gayatri are arranging the beds as well. Currently, the health officials are making plans to get masks, ventilators and oxygen setup suitable for children.

There is a need for at least 5,000 beds for children in government and private hospitals in the district. Also, oxygen plants and a sufficient supply of oxygen are being arranged at city hospitals, rural hospitals and Community Health Centres. Around 11 oxygen concentrators are to be made available at the Community Health Centres. Currently, there are 250 oxygen concentrators and the government has made proposals for another 450 concentrators.

The major worry now is what the situation will be in Visakhapatnam now that the lockdown is likely to end after June 30. Currently, the city has relaxation timings in place till 6 pm. After June 30, the timings are likely to be made till 9 pm.