As India Begins To Regain Momentum, States & UTs Prepare For Possible Third Wave

The states and UTs of India which is still recovering from the second wave have started to prepare for a possible second wave.

New Delhi: As the country continues from a devastating second wave of the coronavirus which hit the country in March, state and UT governments are now trying to prepare for a possible third wave. 

States & UTs are looking to restock & revise the medical supplies needed. On Saturday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the chances of a third wave of Covid-19 (the fifth for Delhi) are “quite real” and assured that the Delhi government is preparing to combat it on a “war-footing”.

States & their preparations for a possible third wave

Delhi: Oxygen shortage was one the most critical points during the second wave, due to which many people lost their lives. Delhi required 700 metric tonnes (MT) of oxygen in a day during the second wave as compared to 150 MT on other days.

The national capital is bracing itself for the third wave, several private hospitals in Delhi have started installing their own oxygen generation plants to avoid a repeat of the oxygen crisis the city witnessed during the second wave. These include Jaipur Golden Hospital and Batra Hospital, where patients had died due to oxygen shortage during the peak of the second wave of the pandemic.

Directorate General of Health Services had asked all private hospitals having 100 or more beds to install their own Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) oxygen plants, refilling plants, or create any other infrastructure to produce at least two times their normal requirement of oxygen. The government is also in talks with the IGL for setting up a 150-tonne oxygen production plant.

Jammu & Kashmir: On Saturday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta chaired a meeting to oversee the preparation of an action plan for tackling a possible third wave of COVID-19 in the Union Territory based on the recommendations of an expert advisory committee. Mehta emphasized the need for strict enforcement of Covid-appropriate behaviour in addition to vigorous vaccination drives for successful containment of the disease.

He said as such, it was stressed that the trajectory of the disease must be put under meticulous surveillance for early detection of new trends towards a probable third wave. He further directed the department to conduct stratified serological surveys in Jammu and Kashmir for ascertaining natural/ vaccine-induced seropositivity in the population and identifying susceptible groups, and areas in the Union Territory to be taken up under targeted vaccination drives.

Uttar Pradesh: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said the state government recognizes the possibility of a third wave of Covid-19 and the spread of black fungus infection among cured patients and is readying itself to tackle them. Talking of his government preparedness to tackle the possible third wave of Covid-19, which, he said, is feared to be affecting children more, the chief minister said, “Every district administration has been asked to prepare a dedicated hospital for women and children.”

“We have 2,220 ambulances of 102 service which are dedicated for women and children and for their emergency services besides providing them telephonic consultation from these hospitals,” he was quoted as saying by PTI. The chief minister said arrangements are also being made to set up pediatric intensive care units (ICU) in every district and every medical college amid the apprehensions of an impending third wave.

Gujarat: The state government said that it has prepared a roadmap to deal with a possible "third wave" of COVID-19 after the state faced a deadly second wave of the infection. The plan, which envisages substantially boosting coronavirus testing and health infrastructure, has a special emphasis on how to tackle the situation if a large number of children get infected in the third wave. The chief minister, Vijay Rupani, said the government will ramp up medical facilities.

We will increase the capacity of oxygen supply, ventilators, ICU beds to meet the worst scenario in the third wave, he said. Deputy chief minister Nitinbhai Patel said according to PTI, "At the peak of the second wave the state required 1,250 MT of medical oxygen and we are planning to make available 1,800 MT of oxygen for the third wave."

Testing will be increased from 1.25 lakh per day to 2.50 lakh per day by establishing more testing labs across the state, the roadmap said. Oxygen beds will be increased from 61,000 to 1.10 lakh. In the same way, ICU beds and ICU with ventilators will also be substantially increased, the document said. The government has decided to set up 4,000 pediatric beds, it said, adding the number of doctors and nursing staff as well as medical attendants will be increased to tide over any manpower crunch.