Ensure oxygen, ventilators- Centre instructs States as COVID-19 cases rise

New Delhi: In response to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, the Union Health Ministry has directed all states to ensure the availability of oxygen, isolation beds, ventilators and essential medicines, official sources said on Wednesday.

A series of technical review meetings were held on June 2 and 3 under the chairpersonship of Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Sunita Sharma.

The meeting was held with representatives of Disaster Management Cell, Emergency Management Response (EMR) Cell, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and central government hospitals in Delhi and with representatives from all states and Union territories to evaluate the current Covid situation and preparedness measures, reports PTI.

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According to the sources, state and district surveillance units under IDSP are closely monitoring Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI).

"Testing is recommended for all admitted SARI cases and 5 per cent of ILI cases as per guidelines and positive SARI samples are sent for Whole Genome Sequencing through the ICMR VRDL network," an official source said.