Teams set up at district-level to check surge in COVID-19 cases

May 07, 2021 11:27 pm | Updated 11:27 pm IST - KOZHIKODE

In view of the surge in COVID-19 cases in Kozhikode, District Collector Seeram Sambasiva Rao, in his capacity as Chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority, set up teams to discharge duties under Section 30 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

The first team in charge of contact tracing and testing is to ensure that local bodies have sufficient number of staff members to discharge their duties related to COVID-19 management. They need to ensure that the control rooms in local bodies are effectively tracing all contacts and that the same is marked on the Jagratha portal. All traced contacts need to be tested while priority-based testing in areas with high test positivity rate (TPR) and testing of vulnerable sections should be ensured.

The second team is to manage containment activities such as identifying areas for containment, critical containment or high TPR, and mark them accordingly on the COVID-19 Jagratha portal. The number of cases every week needs to be considered before releasing the area from containment zone status. They are to identify and propose declarations of local bodies with very high TPR as well as critical local self-government institutions (LSGIs).

The data management team is to handle data related to COVID management activities such as tests, contact tracing, result analysis, containment zone management and availability of resources, update it regularly and make it available on real-time basis. Another team is to monitor and report the infrastructure at hospitals, first-line and second-line treatment centres, including occupancy status of beds, ICUs, ventilators and oxygen facilities. Every hospital has been asked to appoint a nodal officer and establish a help desk with a fixed mobile number and landline number for better coordination.

There is a team for oxygen availability assurance (district oxygen war room), the duty of which is to understand the oxygen supply infrastructure and network of all hospitals and establish systems to ensure seamless supply of oxygen tanks, cylinders and liquid oxygen to all hospitals. Nodal officers have been appointed at every hospital to coordinate with the team, which is to manage any incidents of oxygen shortage in the district.

The team in charge of ambulance services is to ensure that the ambulance control room functions round-the-clock and provides patient service. The team in charge of monitoring patients in home isolation is to ensure that rapid response team (RRT) volunteers have enough pulse oximeters with them and that they monitor the symptoms of patients. They need to make sure that migrant workers and patients belonging to the Scheduled Tribe category are shifted to first-line treatment centres. The RRTs of local bodies have been asked to take special care if all members of a family turn positive, to ensure supply of essential goods and services.

A team has been formed to take care of antenatal cases, COVID-positive children, dialysis and cancer patients , for which a network of hospitals will be arranged. Tele-consultation will be arranged for all patients in need of support.

There are teams set up for patient welfare (call centre management), counselling and psycho social support services, tele-consultation, mobile medical units, vaccination coordination, travel management, volunteer management, enforcement coordination, fire safety standards compliance and for welfare of vulnerable people, migrant workers and transgenders. There are also teams for waste management, management of information, education and communication, coordination of hospitals and resource mobilisation.

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