Udupi: Minister for Energy and Kannada and Culture V Sunil Kumar said that district administration had been directed to increase ICU beds in hospitals in Udupi district.

The initiative has been taken to ensure there is no shortage of beds for Covid-19 infected in the district, he added.

Kumar, who is also Udupi district-in-charge minister, was speaking after holding a review meeting on the Covid-19 pandemic and flood situation in the district.

The minister said additionally 20 ICU beds in district hospital in Udupi and 15 ICU beds each in Karkala and Kundapura taluk hospitals (by August 31) will be readied.

The district faced acute shortage of oxygen and ICU beds last year. Utmost care will be taken to ensure that there was no shortage of beds and oxygen in the district. The work on setting up oxygen generation units in Udupi, Karkala and Kundapura are in progress, he added.

The Minister said that to check the spread of covid infections, all the Covid infected will be shifted to covid care centres. About 2,000 beds have been arranged in covid care centres for the treatment of Covid-19 infected in the district, he explained.

Stating that there is shortage of 34,000 doses of covid vaccines to be administered to beneficiaries waiting for second dose, the Minister said that government will be requested to supply additional doses of vaccines. “If five positive cases are reported in 100-metre-radius, then the area will be declared as containment zone. The house of the infected will be sealed,” he said.

The Covid infection is high in those gram panchayats where a minimum number of covid cases were reported during the second wave. The covid guidelines should be strictly followed in tourist spots and places of worship, Kumar added.

He said that no major damages had occurred following rainfall in the district. The natural disaster management committee is functioning at the Gram Panchayat level. In case, if a house collapsed following rain, then the compensation should be paid within 48 hours. The district administration has Rs 11 crore to tackle natural calamity.

The district has incurred a loss of Rs 100 crore due to cyclone Tauktae. The state government has sought compensation from central government.

Coastal Development Authority Chairman Mattaru Rathnakar Hegde, MLA Raghupathi Bhat, Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha, Zilla Panchayat CEO Dr Y Naveen Bhat and others were present.