Reply:

 

(a). All gazetted hospitals in the country are declared ready for the Covid-19 variant. These hospitals are able to manage Covid-19 cases in the context of the hierarchy of health services per type of facility. This arrangement ensures that the patients are referred the next level of care as and when the condition of the patient changes, from mild, moderate to severe state.

(b). The department has prepared all the 336 gazetted public hospitals plus the private sector hospitals for Covid-19 variant depending of the packages of services and hierarchy of care for each level of the hospital. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, the department did the following in order to determine the state of readiness for Covid-19 admissions:

• • conducted an audit for oxygen reticulation capability;
  • identification of respiratory support devices needs;
  • determined infrastructure needs as well as Human Resource needs.

This is the information that has been used to ensure that the hospitals are ready for all various Covid-19 variants, including preparations for this current variant. Based on the Intra-Action Review that was conducted for the third wave, the department was confident to confirm during the planning for the fourth wave that all hospitals are ready for this new variant.

END.