Andhra govt sets up isolation wards, call centre and awareness camps to battle Coronavirus

The Andhra Pradesh government announced measures being taken to battle the deadly Coronavirus even as no case has been detected in the state so far. After Kerala, a case has been detected in Telangana as a 25-year software engineer who travelled from Bengaluru to Hyderabad. 

The Andhra Pradesh state medical and health department has set up isolation wards and undertaken awareness programs along with training the staff of hospitals. 

Speaking to media on Tuesday, Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas said “Currently eight hospitals are equipped with isolation wards and as per the Central Government instructions, we have also established isolation rooms in two hospitals and four more are going to be added up.

We are well equipped to deal with the cases and as part of the precautionary measures awareness programs at the district level are going to be conducted.”

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Centre to hold awareness program on March 6

A state-contingent would attend the national training program to be held at New Delhi on March 6 on how to handle the cases and on return a state-level workshop would be held on March 9, he added. 'The awareness program would be carried out in a big way with pamphlets on ‘’do's and don'ts’’ would be widely distributed and displayed at village secretariats which focus on hygiene and cleanliness' the Andhra Pradesh Health minister announced. 

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Call centre for public

A dedicated call centre has been set up for the public, which is further routed to control rooms at the district level to alert the officials. People who are suspicious about the contact of the virus can contact the call centre 0866-2410978.

“Anyone with persistent fever, cough, cold or shortness of breath within 28 days must immediately visit the nearest government Hospital wearing a mask. As of now, the State has 1,10,340 N -95 masks and over 12,000 personal protection masks,” Mr Srinivas said. 

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Srinivas also emphasized the screenings at all airports and seaports across the State to identify infected persons and quarantine them.

India has reported a total of seven positive cases of Coronavirus, the last of the three reported in less than a week. The first of the three reported from Kerala and after the isolation has been cleared of the virus and been discharged too.

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(Image credits: PTI)