It is feared that the third wave of Covid-19 may infect around 7 lakh children and adolescents in Jharkhand and at least 9,000 of them may need intensive care, while about 42,000 may show moderate symptoms, state health secretary Arun Kumar Singh said on Sunday while addressing Jharkhand’s first national level webinar on the pandemic.

“We may require around 50,000 beds with oxygen support for children,” said Singh, adding that the state had only 125 child specialists and would need to train other doctors for dealing with cases of infection among children in the third wave.

Jharkhand is the first state to have held a webinar to seek guidance from experts and doctors in tackling a possible third wave of Covid-19. The webinar, which also discussed ways to improve the state’s health infrasturcure, was attended by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Health Minister Banna Gupta, World Health Organisation (WHO) representatives and senior doctors from the top medical facilities in India.

Addressing doctors via video conferencing, the chief minister admitted that Jharkhand was lagging behind in terms of health infrastructure in the rural areas and was also dealing with rumours related to Covid-19 and vaccines among the rural population.

“We expect this webinar to give us a clearer picture on the situation, so we can prepare accordingly for the third wave. Cases have come down in the state after the enforcement of restrictions, but the mortality rate still remains a concern,” said Hemant.

He also expressed concern over the high number of anaemic children in Jharkhand and asked doctors whether Covid-19 could show severe symptoms in anaemic children. “About 43 per cent of children in Jharkhand are anaemic. This is a concern for us amid the fear of the third wave affecting children,” he said.

Dr Ashok Deorari, the head of pediatrics at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi, said there was no research-based evidence on Covid-19 affecting anaemic children in a more severe way. He, however, admitted that nutrition was an important part of building immunity in children as well as adults. He also said that deaths occurred mostly in children with comorbidities.

As per government data, around 1.43 crore of Jharkhand’s population fall in the age bracket of 0 to 18 years. It is feared that about 5 per cent of this population may get infected by Coronavirus in the third wave.

The state has already started setting up a 100-bed ICU for children at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi, said health minister Banna Gupta. He admitted that the use of steroids in treating Covid-19 was now leading to cases of black fungus and white fungus.

“The quality of water used in liquid medical oxygen also may lead to other infections in patients. We need to ensure that only distilled water is used in oxygen cylinders,” said Gupta.

Dr Roderico Ofrin, the WHO representative in India, suggested that the government focus on increasing the testing capacity and pace up vaccinations in a bid to check the impact of future waves of Covid-19. Dr Ofrin also asked the state to follow the three Ws – wash your hands, wear a mask, watch for social distance.