As predicted earlier, there has been a substantial spike in Covid-19 infection among children in Odisha in the past couple of weeks with 12 infants having been tested positive for the virus in Balasore district till Wednesday.
Dulalsen Jagdev, Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) of Balasore said on Thursday that as many as six infants were admitted to the SNCU of the District Headquarters hospital till yesterday. Of them, two have been discharged and referred to Cuttack on their parents’ request.
Of the 12 children admitted so far, 8 are in the age group of 1 month and above. “It seems most of the infants contracted the infection from their mothers,” said Jagdev.
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When asked whether the rise in the number of Covid infection among children can be attributed to the third wave, Jagdev said that it is too early to draw any conclusion. However, the data in past few days will be reviewed to ascertain the status of infection.
“We are creating special facilities for the treatment of children diagnosed with Covid-19. A provision of 40 beds including five in neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and 5 beds in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is being made here,” Jagdev added.
Meanwhile, CBK Mohanty, Director of the Directorate of Medical Education & Training (DMET) said that the Odisha government is doing its best to keep the infrastructure, medicines and other equipment ready for the possible outbreak of the third wave of Covid-19.
Various models are coming out with different predictions regarding the Covid-19 third wave. “However, we are taking all possible measures to increase surveillance, testing and treatment as per the projections made in June. The task force will issue the necessary guidelines after reviewing the situation. Special provisions have been made for the treatment of children in hospitals,” said Mohanty.