1 FIGHTING COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION
With the number of Novel Coronavirus cases climbing steadily and reports of local transmission emerging from across the country, India is on the brink of community transmission—or Stage 3—of COVID-19. On March 24, while announcing a three-week preventive lockdown of the entire country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi allocated Rs 15,000 crore to boost the health infrastructure. The funds will be used to create additional hospital beds, build on the stockpile of COVID-19 testing kits and train medical practitioners. The Centre is putting in place protocols, including the acquisition of medical equipment and protection gear needed in the special isolation wards and facilities. A training protocol for frontline health workers is also being prepared.
“The funds announced are a beginning. We would need more, depending on how soon we can end this affliction. Earlier, states were only using National Health Mission (NHM) funds. Now, they have access to a central fund,” says Dr V.K. Paul, public health expert and a member of NITI Aayog. “The first thing to do with the funds is equip hospitals—with personal protective gear, ventilators, additional oxygen, drugs—and train staff.” While isolation wards are being created, Dr Paul says COVID-specific facilities also need to be looked at for Stage 3. “In Geneva, they are out of ICU (intensive care unit) beds. Such is the virulence of the disease at its peak. We need good hospitals—that is where the focus is now. To support hospitals, we must also have isolation facilities, a strict surveillance system and should even consider setting up call centres in medical colleges,” he says. Dr Paul maintains that India is still at Stage 2 (local transmission), but testing is being done more widely now.
Bu hikaye India Today dergisinin April 06, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye India Today dergisinin April 06, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
The Macallan M 2023 debuts in India
Standing as a pinnacle of exclusivity, The Macallan M 2023 graces the shores of India with limited 10 handpicked bottles for whisky aficionados
Give it up for the science bros
They've got brains, brawn and billions in the bank. A new breed of wellness guru is doing for men what Gwyneth Paltrow did for women.
LIVING BY THE RULES
Chetan Bhagat returns to non-fiction with his new book-11 Rules for Life
The Mysterious City
Anuradha Kumar's The Kidnapping of Mark Twain paints an intriguing portrait of Bombay around the time of the American writer's visit
GOWDA KNOWS
Hot Stage, the third book in Anita Nair's Inspector Gowda mystery series, is here
WITH OUR OWN DESI SLEUTHS
Indian detective fiction gets its due in this massive, two-volume compilation from Hachette
PRIVATE PARADISE
Your home may well be your haven, but here are easy ways to make it your very own spa-dom.
Subversive IN SUBURBIA
A MONTH-LONG SHOW AT ART AND CHARLIE, MUMBAI, SHOWCASING THE WORKS OF POONAM JAIN AND YOGESH BARVE POSES SEVERAL QUESTIONS TO THE VIEWER
THE HOME THAT WAS
A soon-to-launch gallery at the Partition Museum in Delhi will showcase artefacts capturing 'The Lost Homeland of Sindh'
The Enchanted Forest
A perfect refuge for city-weary folk, Six Senses Vana, the global brand's first dedicated wellness retreat in India, is where you go to retrieve yourself: Rest, reset and rejuvenate, the blockbuster RRR of the wellness universe.