New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry stressed Thursday on the rational use of personal protective equipment (PPEs) by healthcare workers treating coronavirus patients amid concerns over their dwindling numbers in the country.
Joint Secretary at the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said there is no need to panic as India has sufficient stocks of PPEs and the government is making all efforts to augment their supply further.
Addressing a daily briefing at 4.00pm here to provide updates on the coronavirus situation, Lav Agarwal said that 20 domestic manufacturing companies of PPEs have been developed. “Orders for 1.7 crore PPEs have already been placed with them and supply has already begun,” Agarwal informed.
Since Wednesday, 540 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 17 deaths have been reported, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in India to 5,734 and death toll to 166, informed Agarwal.
Agarwal asserted that India has sufficient quantities of PPEs. “No need to believe any rumour or have any fear regarding the availability of such items (PPEs). Our guidelines state that not only PPEs should be made available, but they should be used rationally on the basis of risk profile,” Agarwal informed.
The joint secretary of the Union Health Ministry underlined the usage of PPEs on the basis of the three defined zones – low risk, moderate risk and high risk – and said all the components of PPEs like masks, coveralls, boots, goggles and gloves among others should be used in high risk areas like emergency, mortuary or in laboratories collecting samples.
“It (PPE) should be used as per requirement, and as I have told you, I can use four N-95 masks within a day, or I can use just one a day. While the central government is augmenting supplies to the states, we are also requesting them to use them rationally,” Agarwal pointed out. Orders for 49,000 ventilators have already been placed, he added..
Agarwal also said that the Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting chaired by Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the current status and actions for prevention and management of coronavirus. They focused on containment measures and setting up of dedicated hospitals for COVID -19 in the states during their discussions. They also discussed on the strategy for increasing lab testing in hotspots and cluster areas.
According to an ICMR official, 1,30,000 samples have been tested for coronavirus so far in India out of which 5,734 have tested positive. “If we see the positivity rate ranged between three to five per cent in the last one-and-half months and it has not increased substantially,” Agarwal pointed out. .
The ICMR official further said that India is in the final stages of finalizing protocol for conducting clinical trial on convalescent plasma therapy. They will also have to take approval from DCG before conducting the trial.
The Health Ministry joint secretary said that the Centre has approved the ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package’ for significant investments to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore. The funds sanctioned will be utilised for immediate COVID-19 Emergency Response (amount of Rs 7,774 crore) and rest for medium-term support (1-4 years) to be provided under mission-mode approach.
PTI