Government is waging a war against Covid. The need for a war room for constant strategising is imperative. Things are spinning out of control in Meghalaya, particularly in the capital city of Shillong with cases rising every day while the number of deaths have risen exponentially. Shillong faces multiple problems ranging from shortage of ambulances to hospital beds with provision for oxygen and with ventilators for very critical patients. East Khasi Hills is a large district and while the Deputy Commissioner has been pro-active in responding to public grievances, when the health infrastructure itself leaves much to be desired then responding to a crisis such as this one becomes infructuous. The problem is that even patients from other districts rush to Shillong thereby aggravating matters.
Every other state in the county has set up a war room to monitor the Covid situation in real time. Data on current occupancy of hospital beds and directing patients to hospitals with vacant beds will be of much help. The war room will also have several helplines and sufficient people to attend to those helplines. It must be remembered that a suspected Covid case creates panic and stress for family members. They need to know the helpline numbers which are responsive. They need to know which hospital to go to depending on the availability of a bed. If family members have to request other people to help them find an ambulance or a hospital bed it means Covid management is not on track. A team of doctors should be posted in the war room to track things as they develop and to give feedback to the administration for necessary action. A call to the war room cannot be left unattended. It has to be addressed to the last mile and the caller’s waiting time should not exceed 90 seconds. A war room helps to assess which patient needs an ICU bed with a ventilator immediately and who needs oxygen. Counselling the family members at these crucial times helps to calm their anxieties.
A war room essentially has a grievance redressal cell; a team to monitor social media; a team for deciding the order of treatment for COVID-19 positive patients. It monitors those in home isolation. There is a team for updating bed availability in hospitals; and a team to monitor the availability of oxygen support in hospitals. Checking the status of Covid positive patients in home isolation is imperative because in many cases such patients tend to leave home and roam in public places, thereby becoming super spreaders. Such persons are tracked and penalised in the interest of public health. Needless to say this important function has been neglected this time around. In Assam the Covid War Room is supervised by no less than the Chief Minister. Meghalaya needs to emulate that example.
