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infected people searching for open beds, patients slumped on benches in hospital corridors and lying on floors for a lack of beds.
As per a Bloomberg report, which quoted an estimate trom Chinese government’s top health authority, China may have reported 37 million Covid cases in a day this week, the largest single-day spike ever. The Bloomberg report, which quotes minutes from an internal meeting of China’s National Health Commission held on Wednesday, estimates that 248 million people in China were likely infected in the first 20 days of December this year and also that 37 million fresh cases were registered on December 20, which is a massive deviation from China’s official tally of 3,049 infections that day.
The horror stories from China have prompted India to scale up anti-Covid measures and checks, as part of which the central government on Saturday announced that RT-PCR tests will be mandatory for international passengers coming from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand. The development came a day after the Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a meeting with state ministers over the current Covid situation.
“RT-PCR test to be mandatory for international arrivals from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand. On arrival, if any passenger from these countries is found symptomatic or tests positive for Covid19, then he/she will be put under quarantine,” Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, the Centre on Saturday urged states and Union Territories to ensure the availability of Liquid Medical Oxygen, an adequate inventory of cylinders, and functional life support equipment such as ventilators at hospitals to cater to Covid-related needs if required in future in order to avoid the oxygen crisis that the country faced in the second wave of Covid-19.
The health ministry asked states and UTs to ensure that Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generating plants are kept fully functional and regular mock drills are conducted on them, PTI reported.
In a letter to all states and UTs, Health Ministry Additional Secretary Manohar Agnani said the operationalisation and maintenance of these medical infrastructure is of utmost importance to meet any eventuality even though the number of cases in the country is low at present.
“The availability of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) in the health facilities and uninterrupted supply chain for their refilling should be ensured. Adequate Inventory of Oxygen Cylinders along with backup stocks and robust refilling system is maintained,” the letter said, the report quoted lines from the letter.
On the other hand, several states individually, too, have upped their Covid scanning and tackling measures in view of the upcoming winter festive season (Christmas and New Year’s). Several states like Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh etc., have rolled out their combat plans to tackle a possible wave of infections if need be in the near future.
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