'Ready to handle any situation': Madhya Pradesh govt after Covid mock drills in state

Bhopal: The Shivraj Singh Chauhan government in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday assured that the state’s health machinery is robust and 'ready to handle any situation' as Covid-19 mock drills were being held across hospitals to assess Covid readiness. State’s Medical Education Minister Vishvas Sarang said, “We are ready to deal with any situation,’’ after reviewing the mock drills at various hospitals in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday to check the preparedness of health facilities to handle any surge in COVID-19 cases.

Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in some countries, the Centre has asked states and Union Territories to conduct mock drills at all COVID-19 hospitals as part of precautionary measures. Madhya Pradesh minister Sarang was present during the exercise conducted in the government-run Hamidia Hospital in the state capital Bhopal.

After inspecting the health facilities in the hospital, Sarang said such drills were conducted in all government medical institutions in the state. “We are ready to deal with any situation. The drill was conducted to check the preparedness of oxygen generation, Intensive Care Unit, Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, oxygen supported beds, medicines,” Sarang said while appealing all to follow COVID-19-appropriate behaviour.

The minister said he will not celebrate his birthday on December 29 to avoid a gathering of people. He said the COVID-19 situation in Madhya Pradesh was under control and not a single positive case was reported from the state in the recent past. “We are following all directives of the Centre. The state hospitals have 43,000 beds,” he said.

The oxygen plant at the Hamidia Hospital was being monitored round-the-clock through GPS, Sarang said. As on Monday evening, active COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh stood at four and there was no report of any new positive case from the state, officials said.

Madhya Pradesh has so far reported 10,54,918 COVID-19 cases including 10,776 deaths due to the viral infection, they said.