COVID-19: Goa govt to rope in AYUSH doctors to treat patients

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday said that starting next week the state government will rope in AYUSH doctors in providing treatment to COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms.

AYUSH is an acronym for five traditional systems of medicine- Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.

"From next week, the government will involve AYUSH doctors in treating COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms, along with other government doctors," Sawant said.

"They would also be involved in post-COVID management of patients in the state," he added.

The chief minister was speaking at the launch of home isolation kits.

"There are 3,500 patients in the state, who have opted for home isolation. They would be provided these kits," Sawant said.

He claimed that Goa's recovery rate of 85.98 per cent is the best in the country, while the number of tests being conducted is also the highest among states.

"Goa has set up a robust infrastructure to tackle COVID-19 pandemic and there are sufficient number of beds in the state-run hospitals to admit infected persons," he said.

The total number of beds available in different COVID Care hospitals in the state is 756, he said.

The home isolation kit will help in treatment of patients, he said, adding, "It will eventually reduce the burden on hospitals." Till Thursday night, Goa has recorded 37,102 coronavirus positive cases, while 484 people have died. A total of 31,902 patients have recovered.