Karnataka mulls exclusive Covid-19 hospital for children in Bengaluru

Karnataka is mulling reserving an entire hospital in Bengaluru for pediatric Covid-19 care ahead of the feared third wave of Covid-19, Women & Child Development Minister Shashikala Jolle said Monday.

Jolle held a meeting with officials and legislators to chalk out plans for Bengaluru to tackle the Covid-19 third wave that is expected to affect children.

Speaking to reporters, Jolle said: "We want to set up a dedicated hospital in the city for treating children affected by Covid-19. A decision will be taken after discussing with the chief minister."

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"Apart from that, authorities have already identified 1,419 beds in Bengaluru's municipal limits for the treatment of children. This includes 141 ventilator ICU beds, 116 non-ICU ventilator beds, 430 HDU beds and 712 general beds. This will be expanded as more beds are required," she said.

"Also, the government will open Covid Care Centres (CCC) in all taluks for children. The department, in coordination with health, education, rural development and home departments, is in the process of identifying children ahead of the third wave. If a child is tested positive, all arrangements have been made for the mother to stay with the child in the CCC. For children above nine years, boys and girls will be ensured separate facilities. Differently-abled children will get separate facilities," she said.

Until now, as many as 2.38 lakh children have tested positive for Covid-19 across the state. This includes 67,687 children up to nine years and 1.70 lakh children aged 9-18. In Bengaluru alone, in the last year, as many as 51 children died due to Covid-19, Jolle said.

The government will have to focus on ensuring nutrition for children. For instance, in Bengaluru Urban, there are 9,761 malnourished children while there are 124 children who are severely malnourished, she said.

As many as 30 children in the state have been vaccinated on a trial basis. If it works well, then a decision to vaccinate all children will be taken after consulting the CM, she added.

'Opening schools risky'

Jolle said that opening schools in the middle of a pandemic will be risky. When asked about her department's stand on a recommendation to open schools made by a panel headed by Dr Devi Shetty, Jolle said the department was yet to look at the report. "We'll discuss it with the Primary & Secondary Education Minister. If such a recommendation has been made, I believe it will be risky for children," she said.