Well prepared to handle COVID patient load: Punjab chief secy

Amid the rising COVID-19 cases in Punjab, Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Wednesday reiterated that the state was well prepared to handle the current patient load.

Amid the rising COVID-19 cases in Punjab, Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Wednesday reiterated that the state was well prepared to handle the current patient load. She said there was no shortage of beds for COVID patients and that the state government had partnered with the private healthcare sector to ensure greater coverage and better utilisation of available resources for the benefit of patients.

"There is no shortage of beds for COVID patients. As of today, 4,420 beds in Level 2 facilities and 372 beds in Level 3 facilities for those requiring critical care, are vacant. We have also partnered with pvt institutions for optimum utilisation of our health infrastructure,” Mahajan said in a tweet. Later, in an official release here, she said all desired diagnostic and drug therapy facilities have been ensured at both level 2 and level 3 facilities. "The level 2 facilities in the state are well prepared to handle the current patient load with more than 60 per cent beds even lying vacant in the top four districts with the highest COVID-19 caseload cumulatively –Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and Amritsar,” she said.

At level 3 facilities in these four districts, cumulatively more than 40 per cent beds are currently unoccupied, she said. While it is possible that some individual centers may report full occupancy at times, there is a strong mechanism in place at the district level to ensure that patients are referred immediately to another centre with sufficient beds and given the best possible medical care, she said.

Further, the state government has designated dedicated officers called COVID patient tracking officers (CPTOs) who monitor every person that tests positive right from the time that the test result comes till the completion of treatment. Punjab has reported 36,083 total coronavirus cases so far with 920 deaths.