Editor's Pick: States test COVID units to review preparedness

Several States held drills in hospitals on Tuesday, following a directive from the Union Health Ministry to assess preparedness to tackle any resurgence of COVID-19. A global surge in coronavirus cases, particularly in China, prompted authorities to assess India’s preparedness. The country, in keeping with trends from the past two weeks, reported fewer than 200 cases on Tuesday, with no confirmed reports of novel infectious variants. While a senior Bihar official said the availability of medical facilities in hospitals, isolation wards, beds, oxygen facilities and capacity of beds equipped with ventilator supports too were reviewed during the mock drill, the Uttar Pradesh government asked people to wear masks in crowded places and at all medical facilities. In Karnataka, drills were conducted in government and private hospitals that were earlier designated as COVID hospitals. State Health Minister K. Sudhakar said all the designated hospitals would reserve 50-60 beds for COVID patients. Tamil Nadu Minister for Health asked government hospitals to assess their infrastructure to ensure preparedness for COVID and submit a report. Tinku Biswal, Principal Secretary, Kerala (Health), said the State is well-prepared to meet any surge in COVID cases. In Hyderabad, a drill conducted at the Gandhi Hospital found that the hospital currently has 1,890 beds out of which 650 are ICU beds equipped with ventilators. Mock drills were conducted at 302 hospitals in Andhra Pradesh on Monday and Tuesday. The drill reviewed the status of the beds, drug availability, oxygen infrastructure, isolation beds and also the staff. Professor Giridhara R. Babu writes in The Hindu that the possibility of a newer variant emerging out of the high-circulation ecosystem in China is a real concern. “The primary requirement for understanding this will be based on the data made available by China in terms of epidemiological data, clinical features, mortality, and genomic sequencing. In the absence of reliable data required for modelling, it is nearly impossible for realistic planning for potential waves,” he adds. Meanwhile, India needs to stay prepared and scale up the pace of its genome sequencing. “With over 90% of the adult population already fully vaccinated by July this year, over one-fourth of adults also boosted, and a large percentage of the population also naturally infected, the chances of India witnessing large-scale deaths as seen during the second wave last year from existing variants are slim,” says an editorial in today’s edition. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor’s Pick and more. Click here. The Hindu’s Editorials Staying prepared: On scaling up the pace of COVID-19 genome sequencing Clarity and confusion: On Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz What was India’s rank in the Global Hunger Index? 106 101 108 107 To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 28 DECEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! 1. Visit [The Hindu newsletters page]( 2. Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP 3. If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID States test COVID units to review preparedness Several States held drills in hospitals on Tuesday, following a directive from the Union Health Ministry [to assess preparedness to tackle any resurgence of COVID-19.]( A global surge in coronavirus cases, particularly in China, prompted authorities to assess India’s preparedness. The country, in keeping with trends from the past two weeks, [reported fewer than 200 cases on Tuesday]( with no confirmed reports of novel infectious variants. While a senior Bihar official said the availability of medical facilities in hospitals, isolation wards, beds, oxygen facilities and capacity of beds equipped with ventilator supports too were reviewed during the mock drill, the Uttar Pradesh government asked people to wear masks in crowded places and at all medical facilities. In Karnataka, drills were conducted in government and private hospitals that were earlier designated as COVID hospitals. State Health Minister K. Sudhakar said all the designated hospitals would [reserve 50-60 beds for COVID patients](. Tamil Nadu Minister for Health asked [government hospitals to assess their infrastructure to ensure preparedness for COVID]( and submit a report. Tinku Biswal, Principal Secretary, Kerala (Health), said the State is well-prepared to meet any surge in COVID cases. In Hyderabad, a drill conducted at the Gandhi Hospital found that the hospital currently has 1,890 beds out of which 650 are ICU beds equipped with ventilators. Mock drills were conducted at 302 hospitals in Andhra Pradesh on Monday and Tuesday. The drill [reviewed the status of the beds, drug availability, oxygen infrastructure, isolation beds and also the staff.]( Professor Giridhara R. Babu writes in The Hindu that the possibility of a [newer variant emerging out of the high-circulation ecosystem in China is a real concern](. “The primary requirement for understanding this will be based on the data made available by China in terms of epidemiological data, clinical features, mortality, and genomic sequencing. In the absence of reliable data required for modelling, it is nearly impossible for realistic planning for potential waves,” he adds. Meanwhile, India needs to stay prepared and [scale up the pace of its genome sequencing](. “With over 90% of the adult population already fully vaccinated by July this year, over one-fourth of adults also boosted, and a large percentage of the population also naturally infected, the chances of India witnessing large-scale deaths as seen during the second wave last year from existing variants are slim,” says an editorial in today’s edition. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor’s Pick and more. [Click here.]( The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Staying prepared: On scaling up the pace of COVID-19 genome sequencing]( [Arrow][Clarity and confusion: On Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz What was India’s rank in the Global Hunger Index? - 106 - 101 - 108 - 107 To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here]( Interested in daily updates from Tamil Nadu? Subscribe to the brand new "Tamil Nadu Today" daily newsletter to know the latest and most important news from TN [Subscribe Now!]( Today’s Best Reads [[Hardik Pandya named captain of T20I squad against Sri Lanka; Rishabh Pant not part of squad] Hardik Pandya named captain of T20I squad against Sri Lanka; Rishabh Pant not part of squad]( [[Centre, Manipur govt. sign peace pact with Naga armed group] Centre, Manipur govt. sign peace pact with Naga armed group]( [[Crypto Recap 2022: feats and clashes that defined the year] Crypto Recap 2022: feats and clashes that defined the year]( [[GSS/ One of world’s highest flying birds spotted near Chennai] GSS/ One of world’s highest flying birds spotted near Chennai]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](