Udupi district administration to source protective gear locally

Udupi: The rise in the number of Covid-19 patients in Udupi district has, in addition to triggering panic among the public, resulted in a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for those in the medical profession. However, instead of fretting over this scarcity, the Udupi district administration has decided to tackle the problem head-on. The officials have identified units across Udupi that can manufacture PPE kits and have placed an order for as many as 1,000 of them, thereby solving the problem locally.
Udupi district deputy commissioner G Jagadeesha told STOI that the kits they would receive from the local manufacturers would comprise goggles, masks, face-shields, gloves and gowns. “The company we have placed the order with has agreed to provide the 1,000 kits in three days,” Jagadeesha said.
District medical officer Dr Prashanth Bhat said that both the district administration and the health department had zeroed in on a unit in Byndoor called Dhatri. “The company has assured us that they will prioritise local orders. The use of these kits, however, will depend on the number of Covid-19 patients that Udupi district records,” he added.
Dr Bhat said that medical personnel attending to a patient required seven to 10 PPE kits on a daily basis. “Usually, one doctor and three nurses attend to a patient depending on the treatment being administered and the procedure. We use the safety gear when we have to collect samples from patients suspected of Covid-19. Each PPE kit costs around Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000, and we are using money earmarked under the central government’s disaster management fund,” he said.