Maharashtra steps up measures to diminish COVID third wave impact in kids
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Mumbai: Anticipated over that the third wave would be more devastating in children, the Maharashtra government is reported to be taking extra measures to diminish the impact while the state reported over 8000 children contracting the COVID so far.
"8,000 kids tested positive for COVID-19 in May alone. This is worrying," Ahmednagar district chief Rajendra Bhosale told a leading portal.
Considering the possibility of a third wave, which may hit Maharashtra and other states in August-September, a COVID-19 ward is being prepared especially for children in Maharashtra's Sangli city.
Currently, five children are being treated here and the facility is being prepared for more patients.
Meanwhile, corporator Abhijit Bhosale told NDTV that the special COVID-19 ward for children has been prepared in such a way that the kids will not feel they are in a hospital but instead will feel they are in a school or a nursery.
Regarding the surge in cases in Maharashtra, MLA Sangram Jagtap told NDTV about the shortage of beds and oxygen during the second wave and urged on the need to fully prepare ourselves to avoid the shortage during the third wave.
Authorities were alarmed when they found at least 8,000 children and teenagers tested positive for the coronavirus in Ahmednagar this month, accounting for about 10 per cent of the cases in the district. The district administration is also reaching out to paediatricians to make sure they are prepared for the third wave.
The state government does not want to take any chances, with sources saying they expect a possible third wave could hit at the end of July or early August, giving authorities about two months to prepare.
Maharashtra was among the first states to be swept by the catastrophic second wave of the coronavirus in India, which emerged in February, bringing the health care system to its knees with overwhelming hospitals, leaving patients and their families struggling to find treatment, medical oxygen and drugs.