How Hospitals Are Shoring Up Defences Just In Case Third Wave Catches Children

From Upgrading Infra To Educating Staff, Paediatrics Depts Leaving Nothing To Chance

- Sakshi Chand

New Delhi: Terming the next six weeks as crucial, the paediatrics departments of city hospitals are gearing up to deal with coronavirus infection of children. Child specialists are educating paramedics under them in treating children with Covid. As Dr Dhiren Gupta of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, “We can’t say whether the expected third wave of infections will affect mostly kids, but we need to boost our system right away.”

While Dr Randeep Guleria, director, AIIMS, pointed out that data from across the globe, not just from India, showed most children suffered mild Covid symptoms, with only those with comorbidities falling severely ill, he felt it was better to be overprepared than underprepared. The next three months will be crucial and it will depend a lot on human behaviour, he said, and people should not ignore the fact that the coronavirus was still out there and mutating.

There were justifiable concerns, Guleria said, that if schools, colleges and other educational institutions opened, children would be exposed to infection. “Our hospital already has a strategy for children. We hadn’t as yet felt the need to expand the existing paediatric section in our Covid centre,” the AIIMS director said. “Now, with the expected third wave, we have started procuring consumables.”