India Prepares for Corona Third Wave
Government sets up task force to create COVID facilities for children
The devastating second wave of the Coronavirus is receding. The country reported less than 70,000 new Corona positive cases for second straight day. While the down trend of fresh infections gives every reason to rejoice, the threat of the third wave is looming large. What is more concerning is the indication that the third wave will impact mostly children.
The Union Health Ministry is thus underway to make all necessary arrangements to prepare and upgrade the country’s healthcare infrastructure to suit pediatric needs.
“It is desirable to augment the existing COVID-care facilities to provide care to children with acute COVID-19. This will need additional pediatric -specific equipment, infrastructure and pediatric formulations”, government guidelines issued on June 16 stated.
“Also, an adequate number of trained manpower – both doctors and nurses – should be provided. The health authorities should initiate capacity building programmes for appropriate pediatric care. In standalone pediatric hospitals, separate arrangements, for example, separate beds for pediatric COVID care need to be set up,” the guidelines added.
Moreover, drugs prescribed for adult COVID-19 patients such as ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, favipiravir and antibiotics like doxycycline and azithromycin are not recommended for treating COVID-19 cases in children. Therefore, proper administration of drugs and designing of appropriate treatment plan to handle moderate to critical cases is already underway.
