The Operational Headquarters solutions

Participants of the meeting of the Operational Headquarters under the President for prevention of the spread of coronavirus noted an increase in the average daily incidence. If it was 168 people a week earlier, then an average of 185 cases is daily these days. 57 classes in 29 schools and 13 kindergarten groups were quarantined during the week. The traditional process of education in almost a hundred classes has been suspended throughout the republic in total. Two schools have been transferred to distance learning. The admission of pupils in 22 groups of preschool education institutions has been suspended. Taking into consideration these data, the members of the Operational Headquarters returned to the issue of increasing the duration of the upcoming school holidays. As previously suggested by Vadim Krasnoselsky, it will begin on March 15 and will last for two weeks. As for the holding of cultural events, the Sanitary and Epidemiological Service insists on the inexpediency of organizing it in closed rooms in the existing realities. It is proposed to suspend again the activities of leisure institutions - cinemas, clubs, as well as houses of culture, organizations of additional education and children's sports sections and circles from Monday. The President supported the proposal of the Head of the Operations Headquarters, noting that it is extremely important to separate the teams in all directions, especially children during the vacation period, in order to put down the outbreak of disease and reduce the risks of infection exchange to minimum.

Not only restrictive, but also protective and preventive measures were discussed during the meeting. Members of the Operational Headquarters assign an important role in strengthening collective immunity to vaccination. Pridnestrovians will be vaccinated from March 12 with the "AstraZeneka". In addition to the 1810 doses already delivered to the republic, another 600 doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive. A training seminar is planned for the personnel involved in the vaccination of the population to date. Employees of coronavirus hospitals, resuscitation and intensive care units, as well as medical workers of outpatient clinics are the first to vaccinate. They will start with the Tiraspol and Bendery center of mother and child, the republican clinical hospital, the hospital of veterans and the central city hospital in Bendery. The next step will be the vaccination of emergency medical workers, hemodialysis and blood transfusion units. The staff immunization will take place gradually in all medical institutions, as well as closed-type social institutions. The principle of voluntariness is fundamental. Citizens who have completed a two-stage vaccination course will be issued appropriate certificates. Work is underway on the software for the registration process of vaccinated citizens, in order to provide them with the opportunity to move across the border without quarantine restrictions.

The President asked about the provision of medical institutions with anti-coronavirus medicines. The President was informed about the conclusion of agreement on the purchase of seven thousand medicine bottles of Remdesivir for the needs of infectious diseases hospitals. The first batch (2000 pieces) should be delivered to the republic within a week, another 5000 - at the end of March - beginning of April. The medicine is effective, but expensive: the cost of each unit is 490 rubles. There are more than a thousand bottles in reserve warehouses so far. The President recalled the need to timely form stocks of medicines and personal protective equipment.

They also talked about the readiness of the hospital network for possible increase of COVID patients. At the moment, 63% of the bed capacity is occupied. Additional capacities are deployed. Almost one and a half thousand beds are ready to receive patients now. More than 400 of them are in the republican clinical hospital. Additional beds for 60 people will be prepared in the department of purulent surgery today. If necessary they can double the bed capacity 

in the Rybnitsa hospital (the local hospital is now designed for 200 people). The President spoke about inadmissibility of refusing hospitalization to citizens in need of inpatient treatment. In addition, Vadim Krasnoselsky outlined the need to increase the number of beds for persons awaiting the results of laboratory testing of biomaterial samples. The need for a large number of laboratory tests has increased again. This is due to identification of a new strain of coronavirus, in which antigen testing is not effective enough. On behalf of the President, the PCR laboratories are transferred to an enhanced mode of operation. Planned hospitalization of citizens has been suspended for the time. At the same time, Vadim Krasnoselsky emphasized that emergency assistance should be provided unconditionally and with high quality. Another aspect that the President paid attention to was strengthening control over compliance with the requirements of self-isolation of citizens undergoing home treatment.