Nursing students to man ICU wards

Nursing students to man ICU wards

All Existing Beds In Delhi Govt Covid Hospitals To Be Connected With Oxygen Supply

AlokKNMishra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 20.06.2020

To better manage the ICU wards in its Covid hospitals, Delhi government has decided to deploy within four days final-year postgraduate and undergraduate nursing students in these wards for six months.

All final-year postgraduate doctors studying in Delhi’s PG medical institutions will also be deployed in the state government’s Covid hospitals for the same period.

The decisions were taken in a meeting deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia held on Friday with senior health department officials to discuss the augmentation of the ICU beds in the capital. Currently, over 850 Covid-19 patients are admitted to ICU.

The government has also decided to connect all existing beds in its Covid hospitals with oxygen supply in the next 10 days.

As most of the PG medical institutions in Delhi are affiliated with Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University, Mahesh Verma, its vicechancellor, has been appointed for the recruitment and deployment of the required number of final-year MD/MS/DNB and nursing students. “Verma is also authorised to recommend necessary stipend payable to the recruits,” stated the order issued by Sisodia, who is in charge of the health department in the absence of health minister Satyendra Jain. All recruitments will be completed in four days.

The number of Covid-19 cases has surged past 50,000 in the capital, increasing the demand for ICU beds in government hospitals. “Hence, it was decided to ramp up the ICU infrastructure at the earliest,” an official said. The biggest problem, as reported in the meeting, is the shortage of the manpower to run ICU beds, he added.

“Most of the existing beds currently have oxygen supply and in the next 10 days, the rest will have the facility,” said Sisodia. “If any hospital is in urgent need of any kind, the government will fully support it. The medical chiefs of all hospitals have been directed to increase their bed capacity and all other requirements because the coronavirus cases are rising in the city,” he added.

Beds with oxygen supply will also be installed at the newly constructed Ambedkar Hospital.

MANISH SISODIA SAYS

Medical chiefs of all hospitals have been directed to boost their bed capacity and all other requirements

How you can assist in govt’s Covid fight

How you can assist in govt’s Covid fight

AlokKNMishra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  20.05.2020

With the number of the novel coronavirus infections soaring, Delhi government has decided to engage volunteers from NGOs, NCC, NSS, Scouts and civil society to strengthen the fight against Covid-19. The idea is to make the fight a mass movement.

Volunteers would be roped in to survey suspected cases, for surveillance and management of isolation cases, helpline assistance, aid to senior citizens, provide support to government and temporary hospitals, besides any other services that would be required in mitigation of the disease.

People who have recovered from Covid-19 and are willing to share their experience and help the infected would also be roped in. With the number of cases crossing 50,000, the government is facing an acute shortage of manpower.

Making an appeal, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: “Delhi will fight coronavirus together. I appeal to all NGOs and individuals to join in this effort on a large scale.” Even lieutenant governor Anil Baijal tweeted: “Volunteers and NGOs are invited to join Delhi’s fight against Covid-19. Join hands, Together we can! They can register on “Serve as volunteer in the fight against Covid-19” on delhi.gov.in.”

Delhi government chief secretary Vijay Dev had directed the IT department to develop a portal to enable willing volunteers to register online. Only those aged between 18 and 55 may volunteer, provided they are healthy and asymptomatic. Recovered patients would also be allowed to register. “The district administration may utilise the service of these people in confidence building measures, besides other activities,” a government order stated.

All 11 district magistrates would be writing to the organisations concerned to obtain names and details of cadets of NCC, NSS and Scouts residing in their district. Volunteers of NGOs and civil service organisations would be allowed to select the district in which they want to work and be allocated work in areas where they reside.

The volunteers would be working under the district surveillance officer and given orientation to enable them to effectively carry out the tasks assigned to them. As a token of motivation, the volunteers would be given a certificate in recognition of their services in the fight against Covid-19.

Two days after TOI had reported about the shortage of manpower in Delhi government hospitals, the issue was discussed in the meeting chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah and attended by Baijal, Kejriwal and other senior officials to review the Covid-19 situation in the city. Shah directed the officials to develop a scheme to enroll volunteers in the fight against the virus.

Why you shouldn’t panic even as count crosses 50k

Why you shouldn’t panic even as count crosses 50k

3,137 New Cases In Last 24 Hrs; More Testing Also Behind Rise

DurgeshNandan.Jha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 20.06.2020

The daily count of Covid-19 in Delhi crossed the 3,000 mark on Friday with 3,137 people testing positive for the viral infection. This is the highest single-day tally reported in the national capital.

Delhi’s total tally has now reached 53,116, while the death toll has mounted to 2,035, including 65 fatalities reported in the past 24 hours, the government data shows. Sources in the health department acknowledged that the infection was spreading at an alar ming rate.

They, however, added that the increased number of cases could be due to more testing. “Till about a week ago, we were testing only about 5,000 samples daily. It has more than doubled and, therefore, more cases that went undiagnosed earlier are being picked up,” said a senior official. “It is a good thing and shall help in taking actions such as isolation and contact tracing of direct contacts of persons to limit any further spread,” he added.

Dr Randeep Guleria, the director of AIIMS, said as testing numbers went up, the surge was likely to get more visible. “The silver lining is that the majority of patients are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. So far, we haven’t seen a large increase in the need for hospitalisation or deaths due to the disease,” he said.

As per the latest data on the availability of Covid beds, 44% of the beds are lying vacant. Of the 601 ventilator beds, 41% are vacant.

Among government hospitals, Lok Nayak and Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospitals have maximum1,301and1,237 vacant beds, respectively. The total Covid beds in these two hospitals are 2,000 and 1,500, meaning 65% and 82% of their beds are still lying vacant. AIIMS Jhajjar has 725 beds, of which 38% are vacant. Among private designated facilities, Batra and Venkateshwar hospitals have maximum 353 and 304 vacant beds, as per the Delhi Corona app on Friday.

“Given the speed at which new cases are surging, the crisis may go out of hand if stricter measures aren’t adopted to trace and isolation positive cases,” Dr Vinay Aggarwal, an executive member of Delhi Medical Council, said.

WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, while commenting on the prevailing situation globally, said on Friday that the pandemic was in a new and dangerous phase. “People are fed up with isolating, but the spread of the virus is accelerating,” he added. Many health experts in India are calling for lockdown measures in areas affected highly by the outbreak.

72 5  BEDS AT AIIMS JHAJJAR, 38% OF WHICH ARE LYING VACANT

2 varsities get new names

2 varsities get new names

Bengaluru:  20.06.2020

The government on Friday issued an ordinance renaming and elevating Government Science College as Nrupathunga Autonomous University.

Amending the Karnataka State Universities Act, the government appointed a special officer till a vice-chancellor for the new university is selected.

The government also renamed Bengaluru Central University as Bengaluru City University to avoid confusion with central government-run varsities.

Both decisions were taken at last week’s cabinet meeting. TNN

Postponed again: ComedK on Aug 1

Postponed again: ComedK on Aug 1

20.06.2020

The Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (ComedK), which had decided to conduct the UGET examination on July 25, has now deferred it to August 1.

The exam was earlier rescheduled from June 27 to July 25 after students raised concerns about the risks involved in appearing for the exam amid the pandemic.

ICSE/ISC students divided over taking pending exams

TESTING TIME

ICSE/ISC students divided over taking pending exams

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:20.06.2020

While the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has given its class 10 and 12 candidates the choice to either take the pending exams or opt for pre-board or internal assessment (IA) marks, students in Bengaluru are a divided lot.

Some schools said a large number of their students would still like to take the pending exams. “Majority of our students are of the opinion that they want to write the remaining exams. They have prepared well during the break and are sure they’d outperform their pre-boards,” said Gayethri Devi, principal, Little Flower Public School.

Brigade School Malleswaram too has a majority of its students wanting to write the test. “Many students feel safe to write the exams as Bengaluru is not as badly hit by Covid-19 as other metros. During our meeting with parents and students, there were concerns raised about social distancing and the areas from where invigilators would come,” said Anuradha Benegal, principal.

At Bethany High, 32% students have responded, and 24% are opting for the exam. “Some students feel that schools are not lenient in giving marks for pre-boards. So they prepare more thoroughly for the mains,” said Robert Khin, principal.

Vidyashilp Academy says the class is exactly split into two on this topic. “Seventyeight per cent of the students responded. Of this, half want the exams and the other half doesn’t. The others are still weighing the options,” said school head Kalai Selvi.

“Some students who did well in prep exams and do not want to go through the drill again will opt for the IA marks. But, there are others who want to write the exams. Since the Council has extended the last date to June 24, we have given them plenty of time to decide,” said Christy Glory Shanthi, principal of Cathedral Composite PU College and High School.

Paying without staying is a burden, say students in PGs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:  20.06.2020

Students staying in paying guest (PG) accommodations in the city are being forced to shell out almost the entire rent amount even though they have been away in their hometowns for the last two months. This may not have been a problem but for the pandemic that is taking a financial toll on their families.

Arvind, 22, a student at a city university, said he left his PG on April 14 and has since paid Rs 7,000 for the months of April and May. “For June, the owner agreed to reduce the rent to Rs 6,000 after repeated requests. But that is still a lot considering we are neither living there nor using any amenities like water, electricity or WiFi,” Arvind, who is from Kerala, said. His mother has taken a 50% salary cut and his father is earning 30% less than usual owing to the health crisis.

Arvind says the PG owner even threatened the students saying he’d shift all their stuff into one room and not give anything back till they paid rent. “We don’t even know when the university will reopen and when we will return,” he said.

Another student, Kapil, 21, who is also in his hometown in Kerala, thinks PG owners need to be more empathetic. “ We were told to vacate the rooms if payment was a concern. They don’t understand that this is an uncertain situation. If our universities and colleges decided to reopen on short notice, it’d be a nightmare to hunt for another accommodation,” he said.

Sandhya, 21, says shifting PGs at such times won’t be easy either for owners or for tenants. “Reducing rent for a few months would help everyone,” she added.

(Names of students changed on request)

Full report: toi.in

TIMES VIEW

The humane thing for landlords to do would be to charge a nominal fee from their paying guests as a sort of reservation charge on the occupied rooms. It's not the same as an opportunity cost, because, in the current environment, they are unlikely to find new tenants, and will most likely not receive any rent at all if they lose their current occupants. But it appears most PG owners are just being avaricious. It’s quite clear that people are in unprecedented difficulty because of the pandemic, but to ignore that and insist on full rent shows a lack of empathy.

‘PANDEMIC HAS HIT EVERYONE’

Ramakrishnappa, a PG owner, said he has heard many such complaints and gave a discount to students living in his PG. ''I have never forced anyone to vacate the PG, but the pandemic has hit us all. Even I have a family to look after,” he said.