Over 9,000 children test Covid positive in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar
Nearly 9,000 children in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar have tested positive for Covid-19 in May, triggering alarm bells for the state government. The Uddhav Thackeray government has taken note of the alarming spike in cases and asked the district administration to prepare a strategy to deal with the situation.
The state government has directed the Ahmednagar administration to set up special wards for children in private hospitals and ensure the supply of essential medicines. Nearly 100 children are asymptomatic.
Anticipating a third wave of the pandemic, which is likely to affect children in more numbers, the government last week instructed the public health department to set up a pediatric task force of experts to make necessary preparations.
The task force, comprising 13 experts, is led by noted pediatrician Dr Suhas Prabhu. Tatyarao Lahane, the director of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, has been appointed as its member secretary. The first meeting of the task force will take place in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Earlier on Sunday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that the government is fully geared up to tackle the third wave and asked health authorities to be alert and appealed to people to consult doctors immediately if children show any symptoms.
"I don’t know when and what date the third wave will come. So we should not let our guard down,” he had said.
Last month, more than 600 cases of children in two Rajasthan districts -- Dungarpur and Dausa, had tested positive for Covid.
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