Ministers upset over Covid deaths in Thane | Thane News

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THANE: The increasing volume of Covid deaths in the city recently drew the ire of cabinet ministers, Eknath Shinde and Jitendra Awhad, who have now asked the municipal administration to aggressively start identifying the vulnerable segment and prevent further fatalities.
Officials present for the meeting, which concluded late Monday, said the netas were upset with the rising numbers of deaths in the city and questioned the municipal officials and those from the health department if there was any shortcoming in their mitigation process. The netas have also directed the administration to consult experts, Dr Sanjay Oak and Dr Rahul Pandit, if necessary, to ensure there are no more fatalities reported here.
“The ministers directed the administration to leave no stone unturned when treating patients and also identify high risk patients beforehand so that no lives are lost due to late detection. The netas also asked us to not hesitate in contacting them if come across a critical case in need of urgent intervention. Coordination between top doctors involved in Covid treatment in Mumbai and civic experts has also been worked out to ensure fatalities are prevented, which is very reassuring,” said the official.
The netas also asked the administration to intensify contact tracing and also focus on increasing the number of quarantine units in the city. “High risk patients seem to be not being identified in time which is apparently leading to a spurt in the number of positive cases,” an official said quoting Shinde.
The administration was also asked to ensure proper food arrangements was made at the existing units and ensure all facilities provided at all upcoming centres ahead of the rains. The need for revising the agreement for mediclaim companies wherein some facilities that were added as Covid care centres but not covered by the agencies was also discussed. In addition, the possibility of using BiPap ventilators to be introduced for patients at advanced stages of the infection, said officials.