VIJAYAWADA: Another person from Krishna district, who reportedly returned from the USA recently, tested positive for Covid-19. His samples have been sent for genome sequencing to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad.
A couple of days ago, a native of Krishna district landed at Hyderabad airport from Singapore and tested positive. His samples too were sent for genome sequencing. Both are undergoing treatment and reported to be healthy as of now.
According to senior officials in the Medical and Health department, as on Wednesday, a total of 10,421 international travellers having Andhra Pradesh as their address have returned from overseas since December 1. “We have traced 7,969 of them so far and efforts are on to trace the others. Tests were done for 5,641 among them and most of them have tested negative and results of some are awaited,” a senior official told TNIE. Health department, which has been preparing to face the possible third wave, is now concentrating on monitoring the international travellers arriving to the State, conducting tests, besides conducting special drives for vaccinations and testing.
Every day, zoom conferences are being held with district authorities to keep a track of the Covid situation and its variants across the country and the world.
All government hospitals across the State are geared up to face any eventuality in view of the new developments. According to the officials, Government General Hospital in Vijayawada, as on date, has only 25 patients with Covid-19 and black fungus . There are 12 Covid patients and 13 black fungus patients.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare asked the States to treat all the Omicron positive cases in designated Covid facilities with separate isolation areas earmarked for them.
The Ministry of Health stressed that it is imperative that all the States follow a focused approach of quickly tracking the primary and secondary contacts of the positive cases and facilitating testing for them as per the protocol to contain the spread of the virus.
The Ministry also advised the States to take up community surveillance and tracking all the positive cases and their contacts on a daily basis.
GGH V’wada reserves 300 beds for Covid patients
GGH Vijayawada has reserved 300 beds for Covid patients, of which 90 are equipped with ventilators and 210 with oxygen facilities in its super specialty block. Besides, another 300 beds are kept on standby to be used. On the other hand 150 beds have been kept ready in the pediatric ward of old GGH