TN govt geared up to face the third wave of  COVID pandemic, initiates training for medical professionals 

The Tamil Nadu government has planned to vaccinate the most vulnerable sections soon and also train medical professionals to cope with the possible third wave of coronavirus, state Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan said on Monday.

Also, localised infections would be closely monitored and all our efforts would be made to ensure the pandemic is under check, he said. "Doctors and nurses would be trained to cope with the possible third wave and already the infrastructure at all the paediatric wards in the government hospitals across the state have been upgraded," Radhakrishnan said. The third wave is likely to affect children more. The government's efforts are oriented towards averting any new infections, he added.

"We have to be mentally prepared to face it. And appropriate steps were already taken to improve the beds and oxygen supplies," he said referring to the nearly 80,000 beds created across Tamil Nadu.

Oxygen cylinders and concentrators have also been readied. But a disheartening factor is the behaviour of some of the people, he said. "Despite the state government's best efforts in enforcement and monitoring to bring the pandemic under control, an element of casualness which is creeping among the people could cause a spurt in cases," Radhakrishnan said and appealed to the people to follow COVID appropriate behaviour. "Some people are still not wearing face masks or following social distancing. The absence of masks and non-conformity to social distancing norms are causing concern," he said and warned that this could affect the efforts in bringing down the coronavirus cases.

On Sunday, Tamil Nadu reported 1808 cases with its overall tally going to 25,48,497. The active cases stand at 23,364. Regarding inoculation, the senior official said the government has planned to cover the most vulnerable sections soon, subject to the availability of vaccines. "The emergence of COVID variant is not in our control. So, we have to be mentally prepared to face any eventuality," Radhakrishnan said.