From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jun 2: Mines and geology minister Murugesh Nirani, who is the Kalaburagi district in-charge minister, deputy commissioner V V Jyotsna, CEO D Sasi and elected representatives of the district, put in several initiatives to contain Covid-19 pandemic in Kalaburagi district through Covid-Nirmulana drive with effective measures.
"Due to the continuous efforts of the district administration and health department, Kalaburagi district which was among the top in Covid-reported cases has now slipped to 30th position and is progressing towards becoming a corona-free district," said Nirani.
In an attempt to further encourage and motivate corona warriors in the fight against the pandemic, the district administration and minister Murugesh Nirani have planned to recognize and reward such people through the Covid-Nirmulana scheme.
“The authorities will identify 3 to 5 corona warriors in each of the 262-gram panchayats in the districts and they will be given certificates with incentives for their efforts in containing the pandemic. The Covid warriors will be honoured during the Independence Day event on August 15,” said Nirani.
The success story so far is that authorities have already integrated, brought coordination and streamlined the various operations to contain the pandemic through the Covid-Nirmulana scheme.
The system is to upload the RT-PCR test results within 24 hours and each taluk has a dedicated vehicle to send the samples to the central lab to upload results.
The central lab in GIMS is functioning 24x7 to ensure speedy disposal of samples. A separate dedicated team of 10 data entry operators in the lab under a nodal officer from the deputy commissioner’s office has been updating test results on the ICMR portal in real-time.
The mobile swab collection teams are already functioning in Kalaburagi city and other towns to collect samples. The telephonic confirmation cum triaging process happens in the Covid war room once the results are available on the Parihara portal.
A team of doctors and medical interns have contacted each person, who tested positive, after confirming their credentials tele-triaging is being conducted. The team will decide whether the patient needs hospitalisation, Covid Care Centre (CCC) or home isolation.
The physical triaging team will visit those who need hospitalisation or CCC stay. They will cross-check the findings of the tele-triaging team, check the parameters of the patient and arrange for shifting to hospital or CCC. Each physical triaging team consists of a doctor, nurse, group D employee and a driver.
A team of healthcare workers (ASHA or ANM) will visit those identified for home isolation. The team will check the patient’s condition and decide whether home isolation would suffice or CCC stay needed. Those fit to stay in home isolation will be given medical kits.
A separate team under a district level officer which includes teachers of Morarji Desai School, NSS and volunteers are tracing each positive case and identifying all possible contacts manually up to the ratio of 1.30 and direct them for testing. Medical kits have been provided to all symptomatic patients.
Those in home isolation so far have received tele-counselling and school teachers have been roped in for this purpose. The teachers call the patients, counsel them, keep a tab on their health condition and inform the medical officer if medical care is needed. This will continue till the patient recovers from the infection. The teachers have been integrated with each Public Health Centre (PHC) and each teacher handles six to ten patients.
The teachers in each PHC are working under a headmaster who in turn is coordinating with the PHC medical officer. The BEO has been coordinating with the THO at the next level and the DDPI and DHO have been monitoring the overall operations.
As per the Covid-Nirmulana scheme, the patients recovered from the Covid-19 have been monitored for any post-Covid complications and necessary tele-counselling, telemedicine services have been offered.
Further, Murugesh Nirani took several initiatives including supply of oxygen, procurement of Remdesivir vials and other emergency medical needs apart from upgrading hospitals with oxygenated beds and opening Covid Care Centres to treat the patients amid a growing number of Covid-19 cases in the state.