Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, in a strong message to the district administration, said he will not tolerate any laxity in the detection, tracing, tracking and treatment of coronavirus patients in a serious bid to control the increasing fatality rate, which is currently 4.77 per cent. At the video conference, with the divisional commissioners and district collectors, Thackeray stated that although the doubling rate has slowed down, the surge in the death rate is not acceptable. He directed the appointment of a Task Force, comprising leading doctors in each district, on the lines of the nine-member Task Force headed by Dr Sanjay Oak in Mumbai.
The Task Force in every district will suggest measures to minimise the death rate and conduct the clinical management of COVID-19 patients who are critically ill. It will also recommend suitable drug protocol to maintain uniformity in treating critically-ill patients, establish patients’ management protocol for serious and critically ill patients and need specialist doctors and health care support staff in the hospitals dedicated for the epidemic treatment.
Thackeray said the Task Force members in the district will regularly coordinate with the doctors from Mumbai so that they can suggest the implementation of health ministry decisions on the treatment protocol. “If it is taking 72 hours to get test reports from the laboratories, then it is certainly a serious matter. There should be no delay under any circumstances,’’ he warned.
The CM said that it has come to the government’s notice that, in some places, senior doctors do not examine COVID-19 patients due to their age and other ailments. However, the junior doctors have been treating such patients. “If the senior doctors do not want to treat these patients directly, they can attend the hospital and guide other doctors or they can easily guide the treatment via a computer or smartphone,’’ he noted.
Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope reiterated that the district administration will have to step up detection of coronavirus patients. At the same time, due to the onset of monsoon, the non-COVID-19 patients should be treated without any delay.
Principal Secretary Health Dr Pradeep Vyas said that the doubling rate of the virus has been slowed down to 23.1 days, while the recovery rate is 50.4 per cent.
Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta observed that the incidence of infection was higher where less than 10 contacts of each patient were detected. He said it is necessary to keep vigil on an apartment where positive patients are detected and a regular communication needs to be established with the residents of that apartment.
