Bhubaneswar: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Friday at the first Covid Advisory Committee Meeting of the State, sought the advice of top health experts of the country on strategy to tackle the future waves of the pandemic and on how to strengthen the healthcare system further. Looking for experts’ suggestions, the CM said that we need to fine-tune our processes the defeat the Corona virus with your advice.
Eminent health experts and doctors, Dr. K. Srinath Reddy (Chairman), Dr. Devi Shetty, Dr. Ramakanta Panda, Dr. Subrat Acharya, Dr. Lalit Kant, Dr. Mrudula Phadke, Dr subrata Acharya Dr. Datteswar Hota, Dr. E. Venkat Rao, Dr. Sanghamitra Pati,Dr MRPatnaik Dr. Ajay Parida and Dr. CVK Mohanty (Convenor) attended the meeting.
Addressing the meeting on virtual platform, the Chief Minister appreciated and thanked all the expert members for accepting the invitation.
The Chief Minister said that Covid-19 pandemic has devastated families, communities and economies across the World. For the first time, humanity across the globe are affected by a pandemic at the same time. It’s been more than a year and still there is no end in sight, he added.
CM said that in India, the second wave has caused so much turmoil that people are very scared about the future. They fear more variants and more waves. They fear the uncertainty. On top of it, the lockdowns and its effect on the economy, has caused great financial pressure on many families and businesses.
The CM said that people today need the counsel of reputed respected experts like you to tell them words of wisdom and courage to withstand this onslaught of the virus and motivate them to continue the fight.
The CM said that Odisha has been able to provide timely help to the Covid patients and take care of their health care requirement to a large extent. We have been able to manage the oxygen support systems and even provided help to other states for their oxygen systems. We have been able to manage without our health care systems getting over overwhelmed, he added.
He further said that the current trend of the Covid cases is on decline across the state expect for a few districts. The second wave is beginning to recede, he hoped. We are focusing on vaccination and intend to utilise all resources to quickly vaccinate our people, he conveyed the resolve.
Expressing his concern, on the next wave, he said that all of us are concerned about the next wave and if it’s going to affect the children. If it’s true, then we will have to be better prepared since taking care of the children in the hospitals is a big challenge.
Expressing his support to the suggestions of the Committee, he said that our Government values the advice of this committee and assured unstinted support to take forward the strategies suggested by the Committee.
Ms Kalinga