Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan on Friday visited All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi to review their COVID-19 preparedness in light of recent surge in positive cases in the national capital. The minister also interacted with the patients under care at the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNATC), the health ministry said in a statement.
Vardhan held a review meeting on the availability of beds and oxygenated beds at the general/ICU wards with the heads of the various departments engaged in treating COVID and non-COVID medical conditions.
The minister lauded the contributions of the 'Corona Warriors' and observed that with fundamentals of the viral disease known, the task ahead would be comparatively easy.
“I am happy to know that our warriors are not only aware but also concerned over the present situation. I am here to discuss the present situation and what can be the future scenario so that we can take pro-active, pre-emptive and graded response like last year. It’s not like we have not faced the problems in 2020. But, in 2021, we have more experience; more knowledge and understanding about the disease as compared to last year,” Vardhan said.
The minister recalled the time when the pandemic began in the country last year and how India was criticised all over the world for a "perceived lack of health infrastructure".
“With significant ramping up of infrastructure and production capabilities, we have come a long way. We defeated the virus when we did not know much about it and can do it again with our one year of experience,” he said.
Vardhan, however, emphasised the importance of attending to non-COVID cases at the time of the pandemic and said we should not let their treatment get affected.
“We need to think about developing new models that can be implemented and replicated in other parts of the country. I want all of you to provide a good quality solutions. I will try my best to help you in implementing it. The country has high hopes from you,” the minister told the health professionals at the hospital.
Talking to media later, Vardhan noted that our biggest fight this time is to teach COVID appropriate behaviour to the people. “People have adopted a casual approach which is very dangerous. COVID Appropriate behaviour is the biggest social tool we have to break the chain,” he said.
