In a slight deviation from the fresh guidelines that the government has issued asking asymptomatic COVID-19 patients to be in home isolation, Deputy Chief Minister and Raichur in-charge Laxman Savadi told officials to mandatorily admit all COVID-19 patients to State-run COVID Care Centres (CCCs).
“To break the COVID-19 chain, you should mandatorily admit all COVID-19 patients to COVID Care Centres established by the government. You can convert private lodges, apart from government buildings such as hostels, into COVID Care Centres for this purpose. I have given clear directions during my last visit to the district and you need to strictly follow them,” Mr. Savadi told Lingsugur Tahsildar Chamaraj Patil during his visit to the taluk on Monday.
As per information Mr. Savadi shared in a COVID-19 meeting held at the Taluk Panchayat Conference Hall, only 27 COVID-19 patients have been admitted to COVID Care Centres.
“Only a meagre number of patients are admitted to COVID Care Centres and it is not good. You should shift all patients who are in home isolation to COVID Care Centres. Those who are stable can be put in hotels and lodges and other cases that are relatively serious could be admitted to hospitals. The Transport Department has initiated a drive to roll out oxygen-laden buses to provide the lifesaving gas. We have provided 30 oxygen cylinders for the purpose and you should keep them in buses that are always on the move helping patients in need. Oxygen-generating facilities should be put in place in buses which will be parked outside COVID Care Centres,” he told the officials.
Taking note of the closure of factories that produce oxygen during lockdown, Mr. Savadi directed the officials to identify every industrial unit where oxygen was produced and take them into their control to generate oxygen and supply it to patients in need.
“The State-owned Hutti Gold Mines has initiated a process for establishing a 100-bed hospital on its premises in Hutti. It is a commendable job. The company should procure 50 oxygen generating machines that could each produce 10 kiloliters of liquid medical oxygen,” he said.
Mr. Savadi also visited Lingsugur Taluk Hospital and took stock of the facilities in place for handling the COVID-19 crisis.
Lok Sabha member from Raichur Raja Amareshwar Naik, Hutti Gold Mines Chairman Manappa Vajjal, Lingsugur MLA D.S. Hulageri, Raichur Deputy Commissioner R. Venkatesh Kumar, Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Shaikh Tanveer Asif, Superintendent of Police Prakash Nikam, Assistant Commissioner (Lingsugur) Rajashekhar Dambal and others were present.
