VISAKHAPATNAM: Opening of commercial establishments and public places has been attributed to the second wave of Covid-19 in some parts of the country.
“However, Visakhapatnam is all prepared as it has the required health infrastructure in place. Besides, all medical and health professionals are trained to deal with the situation,” collector V Vinay Chand said.
With multiple sectors opening up and more people gathering at one place, it is expected that there will be a marginal increase in positive cases, he said.
“People must follow the three golden rules—wearing face mask, maintaining physical distance and using sanitiser regularly — to ensure that they are not infected.”
When compared to August and September, the prevalence of the infection in the district has come down due to enhanced testing (which went up to 6,000 per day) and increased public awareness on Covid-19 appropriate behaviour (CAB), he observed.
More infections are being reported from rural and agency areas. However, for every 100 samples tested in the district, a maximum of five returned positive, the collector maintained.
Webinars organised by Andhra Medical College principal Dr PV Sudhakar every Sunday, which involved experts on Covid-19 from across the globe who shared the best treatment practices, helped doctors here, he said.
“In fact, the district stood as a model in containing the virus, the collector said. The CAB has been a success since grass root level functionaries were involved and each of them was assigned 50 to 100 houses. All health secretaries and staff were also involved.”
The collector said some Covid-19 hospitals, which currently have no patients, have been delisted.
“King George Hospital’s CSR block will continue to treat Covid patients. RCD hospital, which was denotified, has begun its regular orthopaedic service. Now a large number of patients are being treated in home isolation, which also resulted in less number of admissions to hospitals.”
“The ongoing serosurveillance will help us understand the prevalence of Covid-19 in the district. Data from GVMC area and 11 Agency mandals will help in chalking out a comprehensive action plan,” he noted.