HYDERABAD: Corporate hospital chain Apollo Hospitals on Thursday said it will start screening and testing coronavirus (Covid-19) patients from Friday. The facility will be available at five cities first and will be extended to other locations gradually. Each of these tests will cost `4,500 as per the guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research.
Besides, Apollo is also setting up about 300 isolation rooms across six cities, namely Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Delhi (about 50 in each city), but will keep adding 50 more rooms every three days to reach an eventual target of 5,000 rooms across the country.
“These will be calibrated as per the need,” said Apollo Hospitals Group joint managing director Sangita Reddy, adding that the proposed move will help about 10,000-15,000 patients a month and prevent over 50 lakh infections.
According to Apollo, stocks have been doubled at its 3,800 pharmacies across 18 states and it is estimated that the capacity can be ramped up from the 5,00,000 people served per day currently to 1 million if required. Home delivery capability has been enhanced and prices will be monitored, the hospital chain said. Apollo also launched an Artificial Intelligence-based interactive Coronavirus Risk Assessment scan for screening and initial assessment (both app and website) available in six regional languages.
“Over 6 million have already gone through the screening on the Apollo 24/7 app and website and it’s expected that over 10 million will use this scan to know their risk score,” said Shobana Kameneni, executive vice-chairperson, Apollo. Dr Prathap C Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, said, “The novel coronavirus pandemic knows no borders, makes no distinction between religion, caste, creed, colour or social status. It will require all of us to come together, young and old, as one to ‘Break the Chain’.”