Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has directed the State government to take all necessary precautions to ensure that the upcoming Onam festivities do not lead to another surge in COVID-19 cases and worsen the current situation.
He also gave the assurance that the Centre would provide adequate supply of COVID-19 vaccines as demanded by the State.
Mr. Mandaviya, who was on a visit to the State on Monday to assess the COVID-19 situation, held detailed discussions with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Health Minister Veena George and a team of senior Health officials and bureaucrats.
₹1 crore each for districts
The Centre will allocate ₹1 crore each to all districts in the State as part of the Emergency COVID Response Package-II for creating a medical pool.
This allocation is in addition to the ₹267.35 crore already allocated to the State for COVID containment activities and for strengthening the health system infrastructure, Mr. Mandaviya added.
He directed that paediatric ICUs be set up in all districts, with 10 kilo litre liquid oxygen tank facility. He said that the Centre would support the State in setting up a Center of Excellence for Telemedicine Facilities in all districts in the State.
‘Centre happy’
Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, in his Facebook post later, said that the State’s COVID containment strategies, including its consistent testing, home quarantine and its achievements in the area of vaccination had been deemed satisfactory by Mr. Mandaviya and the team of senior officials with him, including Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.
Mr. Vijayan said that the State’s low case fatality rate, high vaccination coverage and zero vaccine wastage had come in for appreciation at the meeting.
Mr. Mandaviya has promised to take necessary steps to allocate 1.1 crore doses of vaccine in August-September, as demanded by Kerala, the CM said.
Mr. Mandaviya later called on Governor Arif Mohammed Khan at Raj Bhavan. The courtesy call lasted 20 minutes.
He also visited the HLL Lifecare office at Poojappura and the Government Medical College Hospital here.
