Thiruvananthapuram : Following advisory on countrywide 3rd covid wave due in October, Kerala is upping its facilities to confront the onslaught. The government efforts are goaled to tide over the 3rd wave and render greater protection to its people. Since the 3rd wave is forecast to affect children adversely, pediatric ICUs are being readied at hospitals in all districts. Neo-natal ICUs and children ICUs will be arranged for separately at these places. Nodal pediatric centres will be put up in the districts to handle expected case load. Vaccination for above 18 will be completed at fast pace. Vaccinations for above 40 will be administered first shot before by 15 July, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. All this will ensure higher immunity among people and help withstand the oncoming wave.
The 3rd wave is estimated to witness more than 43,000 daily cases as against 12,000 during the 1st wave and govt aim is to keep the case numbers low. At its peak of the second wave in mid May, there were up to 4..45 lakh patients in a single day. Lockdown helped bring this down and now there are around 1.5 lakh people under treatment. The reduction has alsomade it possible to make more beds, ventilators and oxygen supply available.
Lower number of critical patients are a relief, observe experts. According to data released Sunday, there are 1679 extremely critical and 4712 critical patients under treatment.
Hospital and Bed Facilities
There are over 2000 Covid treatment facilities in state. Apart from ICU beds, there are 1,21,815 beds dedicated for covid of which 66,101 are presently occupied i.e. 54.2% of the total capacity.
