Coimbatore: The district logged 870 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, even as collector G S Sameeran inspected the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) and the ESI Hospital to check preparedness for the possible third wave of the pandemic.
In the wake of experts around the world predicting that the wave might affect the children, he inspected the paediatric wards at the hospitals and said he was satisfied with the infrastructure in place.
He told the media there was no specific warning or validated information on the arrival of a third wave, but they were simply taking precautionary measures.
The CMCH has readied 370 beds for paediatric Covid-19 cases.
Of them, 100 have oxygen support and another 36 have ventilator and monitor facilities.
Similarly, there are 250 beds for paediatric Covid-19 cases in the ESI Hospital.
While 100 beds are equipped with oxygen, 22 beds come with ventilator facilities.
“Both the hospitals have procured paediatric oxygen masks, nasal cannulas, steroids like methylprednisolone and immunoglobulin to handle multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.
There is no need to panic, as there is no clear indication confirming that such a wave would occur,” the collector said.
Meanwhile, the number of active Covid-19 cases in the district fell to 8,373 with 2,046 patients getting discharged from various treatment centres.
While the district has tested 2,14,256 positive for the virus till date, 2,03,953 of them have recovered.
The recovery rate has improved to 95.1%.
The Covid-19 toll rose to 1,930 with the state listing another 19 deaths that occurred in the district in the media bulletin.
Health department officials said they were using the lull in fresh cases to upgrade the infrastructure to prepare for the third wave.
“We want to equip every bed in every Covid care centre with oxygen support.
We are also working on to increase the oxygen availability,” said Dr Senthil Kumar, deputy director of public health.
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