‘Telangana no exception for second wave’

Health officials urge public to continue precautions for the next 45 days to avoid surge in cases

Hyderabad: Telangana is not an exception and in due course would have to face a second wave of Covid-19 infections, State health authorities observed here on Wednesday. At present, there are less number of Covid-19 infections, but this was not an indication that the State would not face a surge of infections, officials said.

The spate of Covid-19 infections across various parts of the country including Delhi, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh was a sign that there could be a second wave of Covid-19 in Telangana. “It is important for general public to continue to take precautions for the next 45 days i.e. till the middle or end of January, which will help reduce the intensity of the second wave,” Director of Public Health (DPH), Dr G Srinivasa Rao and Director of Medical Education (DME), Dr K Ramesh Reddy, said.

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The Health Department has taken up several measures to meet the healthcare needs of people during a possible surge in Covid-19 infections. In addition to the existing 1,094 government healthcare facilities that are offering rapid antigen tests across the State, another 50 centres have been added in Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts, which will ensure availability of Covid tests for all.

To provide individuals with right information on the location of the testing centres, apart from the existing 104 helpline, the health department has added one more landline (040-24651119) of the State epidemic cell that will guide individuals on the location of the testing centres.

In addition to the 1,094 Covid testing centres across the State and 50 additional test centres in Hyderabad, there are close to 350 mobile testing centres that offer Covid-19 tests to individuals. “We believe that second wave is totally dependent on the behaviour of the individuals. If we continue to take precautions for the next 45 days, we should be able to reduce the number of cases,” Dr Ramesh Reddy said.

The stress is on early testing and early isolation which ensures Covid-19 infection does not spread among the community. To ensure early testing, in the next day or two, the daily Covid-19 testing across the State will reach 65,000. The gradual reduction in the number of active Covid-19 cases in Telangana has also resulted in the drop of bed occupancy across all the public and private healthcare facilities. As on Saturday, only 10 per cent to 11 per cent of the beds (both private and public included) were occupied by Covid patients while the remaining beds were empty.

“Even at remote primary and community health centres, we have ensured that adequate oxygen cylinders are available for treatment of Covid patients. Small sized oxygen cylinders have been procured and made available at PHCs. In March, the State had access to just 150 to 200 ventilators. Today, we have over 1,600 ventilators across the State for Covid patients. There are nearly 200 high-flow cannula systems to help positive patients breath properly,” the DME said.

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