Govt to spend additional Rs 23,220 cr for COVID-19 preparedness, special focus on children

The Centre on Monday said it will spend an additional Rs 23,220 crore for short-term health emergency preparedness for COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The new scheme will have a special focus on children, paediatric care and paediatric beds, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, while announcing a Rs 6.29-lakh crore stimulus package for the economy hit by the second Covid wave.
 
The announcement comes at a time when some experts have raised concerns that the future waves of COVID-19 pandemic can affect children.
 
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The funds will be used for the short-term HR augmentation through medical students (interns, residents, final year) and nursing students, and to increase availability of ICU beds, oxygen supply at central, district and subdistrict levels.
 
Besides, the funds will also be used to ensure adequate availability of equipment and medicines, access to teleconsultation and ambulance services, enhance testing capacity and supportive diagnostics, strengthen capacity for surveillance and genome sequencing.
 
Sitharaman said the Rs 15,000-crore Emergency Health Systems Project in 2020-21 led to a 25-fold increase in COVID dedicated hospitals, setting up of 7,929 COVID health centres and 9,954 COVID care centres. Besides, oxygen supported beds increased 7.5 times, while there was a 42-fold increase in isolation beds and 45-fold increase in ICU beds.

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