Jharkhand is prepared to deal with any spurt in COVID-19 cases, although the situation is presently under control, a health official said on Saturday.
No fresh coronavirus cases have been reported in the state since December 18, when two infections were detected in a Jamshedpur hospital, the official said. "In view of a rising number of coronavirus cases in some states, the Jharkhand health department has already conducted mock drills of functioning of oxygen plants and reviewed the number of beds available with oxygen support, non-oxygen support and those in the ICU as per directions of the Centre," Alok Trivedi, National Health Mission (NHM) Director in the state, told PTI.
India saw a single-day rise of 752 coronavirus infections, the highest since May 21 this year, while active cases have increased to 3,420, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
"No fresh cases have been reported in Jharkhand over the last few days. There are only two active cases in a Jamshedpur hospital. There is no need to panic. We have urged people to take precautionary measures wherever required," he said. In government health institutions, a total of 21,680 beds, including 11,356 oxygen-supported ones, 5,276 without oxygen support, 1,447 ICU beds and 1,456 ventilator beds are available, according to health department data.
Besides, a total of 122 pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen-generating plants have been established in 93 government and private health institutes. There are 27 RT-PCR labs in the state. As many as 298 TrueNat machines are available in community health centres of all districts. Besides, 1,30,414 RAT kits are available.
The health department has recently issued an advisory to all the districts to maintain a state of constant vigil with regard to the COVID-19 situation. It directed the district administrations to raise community awareness regarding adherence to respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene considering the upcoming festive season.
