Ashwini Vaishnaw reviews COVID-19 preparedness in railway zones across India

Amid COVID-19 surge across India, Union Minister of Railway, Ashwini Vaishnaw, reviewed the health infrastructure facilities and the condition of railway hospitals for the general public. The virtual meeting was attended by senior railway ministers, where the subject of vaccination was also discussed.

According to the official statement from the ministry, the following directions were given and discussed by the Union Minister:

• Railway Hospital Infrastructure
• Paediatric Ward functioning
• Vaccination- Vaccination of Children and staff of Railways including provisioning of booster dose to frontline workers of Railways
• Availability of medicines, oxygen supply, zeolite stock and other necessary medical support and functioning of ventilators, Liquid Medical Oxygen Tanks, and other equipment which is critical in COVID treatment
• Commissioning of Oxygen Plants (out of total sanctioned oxygen plants, 78 have already been commissioned and 17 are yet to be commissioned)
• Creating awareness:
• Increasing the frequency of announcements at Railway stations about masking up, sanitisation of hands and other precautionary measures
• Discouraging entry of people without masks at Railway stations
• Running drives to promote the wearing of a mask and upholding other precautionary measures
• To review the running of special trains for/to in case of emergency and/or sudden surge in the number of passengers/migrants at Railway stations during current situation of COVID

COVID-19 in India

In the last 24 hours, India has reported 1,41,986 new COVID-19 cases, according to the Union Health Ministry. So far, 4,033 cases of the Omicron strain of Coronavirus have been reported in the country, with Maharashtra leading the tally at 1,216.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday interacted with Health Ministers from 5 States and 1 UT to discuss the current COVID-19 situation persisting in their regions. The meeting was convened virtually between Mansukh Mandaviya and officials from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Maharashtra. During the meeting, the Union Health Minister advised the states to ensure that all kinds of oxygen infrastructure be checked such that it is in a functional/operational state, official sources revealed. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also urged intensive containment and active surveillance in clusters reporting high cases and highlighted the need to ensure effective usage of masks and physical distancing measures as a 'new normal' to control spread. He also stressed on availability of health-related guidance to people in remote and rural areas and exhorted the need for effective implementation of Home Isolation for mild/asymptomatic case, the official release mentioned. 

India administers over nine lakh precautionary doses

On the positive side, India on Monday started administering COVID-19 third dose or precautionary dose to healthcare workers, frontline workers and individuals aged 60 years and above with comorbidities. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on the first day of the drive, more than nine lakh doses were administered to the eligible age group. 4,91,013 precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers, 1,90,383 to frontline workers, and 2,54,868 to the 60-plus population with comorbidities.