VIJAYAWADA: Amid the Omicron scare, Krishna district administration has put hospitals in the district on high alert. The health department officials have been asked to scale up Covid-related infrastructure to contain the spread.
According to the health department officials, the district has approximately 5,000 beds available in 30 hospitals treating Covid patients. Instructions have been given to the hospital managements to enhance the capacity after examining the severity of the new variant.
Special focus has been laid on the passengers arriving into the district from various parts of the country and abroad. Passengers arriving at the Vijayawada International Airport are allowed to go home only after they are thoroughly screened.
Special teams have been constituted to screen the passengers arriving at the railway station from various regions. Besides that, staff at PHCs in villages have been instructed to be vigil and gather data of those arriving in the villages from abroad.
District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) M Suhasini informed that instructions have been given to the government and private hospitals to start reserving beds, which were being used to treat other patients, for Covid patients.
“At present, 300 beds have been readied at the second and fourth floors of the Super Speciality Block on the premises of the New Government General Hospital (GGH). Of the total, 90 beds are equipped with ventilators and the remaining 210 are oxygen beds. 300 more beds will be added in case of any surge in the Covid positivity rate,” the health official said. A special committee has been formed to monitor Covid patients round the clock through control rooms. More medical staff has been recruited on contract basis.
“In case, any individual has symptoms like cold, fever, they should get their sample tested at the nearby PHC and isolate themselves until the reports come,” Su hasini cautioned.