Bidar admn. holds emergency meeting to protect children

Deputy Commissioner Ramachandran R. chairing an emergency meeting at his office in Bidar on Tuesday.

As neighbouring Maharashtra reported COVID-19 cases among children, Bidar Deputy Commissioner Ramachandran R. held an emergency meeting of top officers from different departments, especially the Department of Health and Family Welfare, on Tuesday and discussed the steps to be taken to protect children from the virus attack.

In the meeting that lasted over two hours at the Deputy Commissioner’s office, paediatricians, gynaecologists and other senior doctors from the State-owned Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences (BRIMS) offered some suggestions to handle the situation.

Mr. Ramachandran directed the officials concerned to be more vigilant in the areas along the Karnataka-Maharashtra border in the district.

“The second wave of the pandemic is on the decline. The number of new positive cases in the district has dropped to two digits. However, we cannot afford to be complacent and lethargic. As per experts, a possible third wave is expected to hit the population, especially children, shortly. We need to make preparations on a war footing and protect our children and people from the virus attack,” Mr. Ramachandran told the officers.

He also directed the authorities to reserve 100 beds in BRIMS and 50 beds in Mother and Child Hospital for children.

“If any COVID-19 infection is found among children aged between one month and 10 years, every hospital should ensure that 20 of the 50 beds reserved for children should be Intensive Care Unit beds and 10 of them should be reserved for neonatal care,” Mr. Ramachandran said.

District Health and Family Welfare Officer V.G. Reddy told the meeting that he, after experts alerted to a possible COVID-19 infection among children in the third wave, has already held discussions with Taluk Health and Family Welfare Officers on preparations to be made for handling COVID-19 among children.

Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Panchayat Zaheera Naseem, Additional Deputy Commissioner Rudresh Ghali, Assistant Commissioners Garima Panwar and Bhuvanesh Patil and others participated in the meeting.