VIJAYAWADA: AMID complaints that coronavirus infectees’ relatives are not being informed of the patients’ health status, Commissioner for Health and Family Welfare Katamaneni Bhaskar on Monday said real-time updates will be given to the kin of patients hospitalised for Covid-19. Doctors will upload details under the ‘Patient Status’ tab of the ‘Matru Sisu Samrakshana’ website, and based on this, the patient’s condition will be categorised as either ‘stable’ or ‘unstable’, and an SMS will be sent to a relative. At the time of admission, each patient will have to provide a phone number of a relative who will receive real-time updates on his/her status.
“Attendants are not allowed in the Covid-19 ward... So every day, the condition of patients will be assessed by a duty doctor and entered on a software that will send alerts to the patients’ relatives. The health status can also be checked on our website using an OTP sent to the number given by the patient. We are allowing access through only one phone number due to privacy concerns,” Bhaskar said. Meanwhile, the state government has told private laboratories to immediately stop testing samples for coronavirus unless they have permission to do so.
It also warned them to strictly adhere to the prescribed fee structure. In a note issued on Monday, the government said it had received several complaints regarding unauthorised labs conducting tests and charging exorbitant amounts. The notice mentioned that each lab must have permission from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories and the state nodal officer for Covid-19. The managements of labs with the requisite permission should send their certificates to ceoap@ysraarogyasri. ap.gov.in.
Labs without permission must stop testing: Govt The state government has told private labs to immediately stop testing samples for coronavirus unless they have permission to do so. Labs are allowed to charge only up to `750 to test each sample