West Bengal govt gears up to fight against third wave of COVID-19; Issues new diet chart for kids

Kolkata, July 29: In a bid to fight the third wave of COVID-19, the West Bengal government has decided to modify the paediatric diet charts in its hospitals.

On Wednesday, an order issued by the state government said, "Anticipating a third wave of Covid-19 the government of West Bengal has decided to augment paediatric Covid facilities across the state. As the dietary supplement is an essential part of the Covid pandemic treatment and management, the government has decided to modify the existing diet plan particularly for paediatric population."

A senior health department official said, "Two separate diet charts, one for kids between 1 and 5 years and another for children between 5 and 12 years of age have been drawn. The menu, comprising bread, egg, fruits, milk, rice, dal, vegetables, and fish is almost the same. The quantity is a little more for the latter age group."

According to reports, a child's mother or caregiver would also get a full diet as recommended by the health department. All state-run hospitals have been asked to follow the diet with immediate effect.

The state is anyway setting aside dedicated paediatric intensive care units and sick neonatal units for Covid cases among children and infants respectively.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has called a meeting of the Global Advisory Body, set up the government last year to advise the state on pandemic issues, on August 5. The body is headed by Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee.