New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government has decided to create a much larger pool of frontline health workers to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and “tackle the exponential or geometric increase” in the positive cases in the country.
In a circular dated 7 April, Tuesday, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said: “As all are aware, India faces a significantly higher threat from Covid-19 pandemic.”
While India’s first line of workers is already doing a “commendable work”, a second line of workers needs to be created to replace the first line of workers, the circular added.
“… a larger force will be needed to replace the first line and to tackle the exponential or geometric increase in Covid positive cases in the subsequent stages of the pandemic,” it said.
The circular also stated the DoPT decided to fast-forward the launch of its online training platform “iGOT” to provide flexitime Covid-19-related training modules to doctors, nurses, paramedics, hygiene workers, technicians, Auxiliary Nursing Midwives (ANM), state government officers, civil defence officials, various police organisations, etc.
“Accordingly, to take care of training needs of the frontline workers, the launch of the iGOT platform has been fast-forwarded,” according to the circular.
The circular added the empowered group of officers, constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tackle the outbreak, had suggested the government about fast-forwarding the launch of iGOT to train health workers, who are treating Covid-19 patients.
The Integrated Government Online Training (IGOT) platform is meant to provide online training to government officers and staff in various aspects of governance and policy-making. The platform is now being tweaked to cater to the training demands that have come up due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Also read: Covid-19 cluster management to geographic quarantine: What govt’s containment plan includes
Coronavirus cases rising steadily
The number of positive cases has been steadily rising in India — with the figure reaching 4,421 Tuesday.
The government is ramping up its preparations for a scenario in which the outbreak grows rapidly in the country.
According to a report, the Indian Council of Medical Research, the country’s nodal health research body, has prepared a “worst-case scenario” plan for Covid-19 testing. The ICMR is preparing to add up to 200 additional labs for round-the-clock testing amid rise in cases in the country.
Also read: With COVID-19 cases rising, India to now test all ‘high-risk’ contacts of patients