BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Government’s State level drive for screening people with Covid-19 symptoms will have significant focus on people with comorbidities such as TB and non-communicable diseases.
Faced with criticism from different quarters over declining tests, Government has decided to continue the drive till July 31 which will help identify and sensitise people under vulnerable categories.
The household survey is being carried out by ASHAs and ANMs who have been asked to visit at least 20 households a day.
Additional Chief Secretary of Health and Family Welfare department PK Mohapatra said focus is to identify every person with symptoms and people with co-morbidities.
“Once the people at risk are identified, they will be tested for Covid, whatever the number be,” he clarified.
After identifying the symptomatic cases, ASHAs will mobilise them for RT-PCR test.
The ANMs will arrange transportation of identified people for sample collection at designated sites. Rapid response teams will handle cases with moderate or serious symptoms.
In addition, supervisory staff will identify people who attended OPD, drug store for treatment of Influenza like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) and intimate frontline workers to guide them for RT-PCR test.
If any patient turns up with symptoms of presumptive TB at fever clinics, then in addition to Covid testing, sputum sample will be collected for diagnosis at district level.
Gaon Kalyan Samitis will make people aware about selfmonitoring of health for flu like symptoms, conduct surveillance of the community and inform 104 if any symptomatic cases are identified.
Mohapatra said there will be screening for NCDs and sensitisation of vulnerable persons to identify diagnosed cases of hypertension and diabetes who have discontinued medicine.
The preliminary screening will be of people, aged above 30 years through community based assessment checklist and ensure referral of high risk cases to nearest hospital for confirmed diagnosis.
The State Government has designated six State level nodal officers for overall monitoring in five districts each besides, 30 mentors to visit the assigned districts at least twice during the drive and submit reports.