The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it is procuring mobile field hospitals with a capacity of 20-30 beds, which could be set up in the most affected areas to assist India in dealing with the growing burden of covid-19 patients despite a shortage of hospital beds, testing facilities, oxygen, and medicines.
According to the WHO, the bed capacity of these field hospitals can be expanded to a maximum of 50, without compromising infection prevention and control procedures, as well as water and sanitation. With regular reports of people dying in hospitals due to a lack of oxygen, the WHO has chartered flights to carry in 4,000 oxygen concentrators to help meet the rising demand.
As India battles a surge in covid-19 incidents, the apex global public health agency has stated that filling crucial gaps in vital medical supplies and hospital capacity should be a top priority. The recent rapid increase in covid-19 cases has put enormous strain on health systems that have already been overburdened since the outbreak began. Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, said, “We need to act quickly, increase hospital capacity, and equip them with medical supplies that are most required to save lives.”
Furthermore, health authorities must emphasise the fair use of drugs and oxygen to ensure that lifesaving services are only provided to those who need them, according to the Regional Director. The WHO is also obtaining laboratory equipment, including 1.2 million reagents, in order to satisfy the enormous demand for research.
“Over 2600 WHO technical workers who were previously employed on polio, tuberculosis, and NTD programmes have been repurposed to help with the pandemic response in India. They are assisting with rapid situational analyses and implementation of targeted responses in the recent surge,” Khetarpal said.
In the last 24 hours, at least 3,79,257 new cases have been reported. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan are among the ten states that have registered 72.20 percent of new cases.
Maharashtra has the most regular new cases, with 63,309. Karnataka comes in second with 39,047 new cases, while Kerala has 35,013 new cases. The total number of active cases in India has risen to 30,84,814. It now accounts for 16.79 percent of the total number of Positive Cases in the world. In the last 24 hours, a net increase of 1,06,105 cases was reported from the total active caseload.
Eleven states collectively account for 78.26 percent of all active cases in India. According to data from the union health ministry, 3,645 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours. Ten states are responsible for 78.71 percent of new deaths. Maharashtra suffered the most casualties (1,035). According to the government, Delhi comes in second with 368 regular deaths.
“Over the last month, there has been a sharp increase in the number of cases, but recoveries are still rising at the same rate, and people are improving. We need to focus on enhancing diagnosis and assisting as many people as possible using teleconsultations to provide appropriate advice to patients recovering at home and to provide required medicines for a quick recovery,” Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan said.
