Warangal: Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital gears up to tackle new variant

Warangal: Learning from past experience, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital (MGMH) is all geared up to tackle newly detected Omicron Covid-19 variant (SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.529) infection which of late started to threaten the world. Identified a week ago in South Africa, the Omicron variant is feared to be more transmissible.

The MGMH has a Covid-19 dedicated block of 250 beds. In case of any exigency, the authorities have a luxury cushion of increasing the number of beds to 1,000. All Covid-19 wards were embedded with an oxygen supply pipeline. The hospital is also ready with the ventilators, oxygen flow meters, medicines and other paraphernalia.

There was a time the hospital faced an acute shortage of oxygen. But thanks to the Centre's PM Cares Fund initiative that provided a 1,000 litres per minute (LPM) capacity plant to the MGMH. Later, the hospital procured one more plant with similar capacity.

Previously, the oxygen tanks in the hospital were filled through third-party supply. As of now, the hospital has the facility of providing oxygen to 1,000 patients at one point of time. The hospital is also equipped with 200 ventilators, 50 oxygen concentrators. Amid fears that the younger generation is more vulnerable to the new variant, the MGMH has its homework done to tackle the menace. According to officials, the hospital has 100 ventilators exclusively for the children.

"We learnt a lot from the second wave. Since the second wave, the MGMH, the designated Covid-19 hospital, had seen a huge metamorphosis with the government giving impetus on procuring life-saving resources from hospital beds to oxygen to medications. We are focusing on all the shortcomings that we faced in the past," MGMH Superintendent Dr V Chandrasekhar told The Hans India Referring to the manpower, he said that they have an adequate number of doctors to handle the situation.

Responding to people's ignorance to the Covid-19 protocols since the second wave has subsided, Dr Chandrasekhar said, "Once we were caught off guard. There should not be any such lenient approach." Meanwhile, the health officials said that a large number of people were not wearing masks and also not valuing the importance of maintaining physical distance.