Chandigarh admin takes stock of Covid prep, find arrangements satisfactory

He said there was no need to panic, as all arrangements are in place. He added there are no restrictions regarding New Year celebrations, but residents ought to follow Covid appropriate behaviour for their own safety. Dharam Pal also appealed to all the residents to get vaccinated against Covid at earliest, if they had not already done so.

Dr Suman Singh, the Director of Health Services, who accompanied the Adviser on Tuesday, also stated that the situation was under control and was being monitored closely. “The protocols and advisory will change as per the situation. For now, we all need to wear masks in crowded places, wash our hands regularly, and get fully vaccinated at the earliest,” said Singh.

Covid drill at PGI

On Tuesday, a drill to assess the preparedness for management of Covid crisis was conducted at PGI, Chandigarh under the watchful eyes of the institute’s director Vivek Lal. As per the drill, a suspected Covid volunteer reported in the Emergency OPD of the institute in the afternoon.

After the volunteer reported Covid-like symptoms, the healthcare providers (doctors, nurses and paramedical staff), following all Covid appropriate behaviour, first clinically examined and treated the volunteer as per the Union Health Ministry’s guidelines. The required sampling of the patient (RT PCR/Genexpert) was also sent to the Department of Virology to assess their preparedness as well.

After providing the needed emergency care, the suspected volunteer was sent to an isolation ward for Covid-19 patients, through a pre-defined path via a dedicated ambulance. All the health care workers involved in the mock drill maintained proper hand hygiene, respiratory etiquettes, masks and maintained social distancing.

All the required medicines, consumables, equipment, signage were available at different designated areas as per requirements, the drill found. The preparedness rehearsal activity ran for at least 70 minutes with PGI’s director later holding a meeting with everyone who participated and highlighted some gaps that needed to be addressed.

Lal later also checked the readiness of all the designated ICU beds (30) and oxygenated beds (70) at the institute and found to be satisfactory.