HYDERABAD: As Covid-19 cases surge again, it’s deja vu all over again for Hyderabad. Hotels have opened up quarantine centres, private hospitals have begun offering home isolation packages, citizen volunteers are helping many under home isolation buy essential commodities, and NGOs are on the ground providing various services to the needy.
One such organisation, the Helping Hand Foundation, has begun providing free home isolation care services to patients. Its package includes online doctor consultation, home delivery of oxygen cylinders and pulse oximeters, ambulance support and nursing services.
Speaking to TNIE, HHF founder Mujtaba Askari said that the Covid-19 situation in Hyderabad has become worse this year. “In just a week of launching home isolation care services, the foundation has received almost 700 calls from people in need. We got 200 calls on Sunday alone,” he said.
Another NGO, Feed the Needy, has relaunched its free ‘last ride service’ and cremation facilities for Covid-19 casualties, in addition to providing drugs, essentials and food to those under home isolation. Sai Teja, a member of the NGO, said that they have already received 500 calls from people in need. So far, the NGO has provided ‘last ride services’ to at least 25 patients, who died under home isolation.
Both small and well-known hotels in the city have started quarantine facilities again this year. They provide not just food, but also doctor consultations to patients. They also have nurses on call all day long. These hotels charge anywhere between Rs 2,000 to Rs 7,000 per day, depending on the facilities provided by them. A few IT companies in Hyderabad have also set up isolation centres for their employees and their families.
Interestingly, a poster of a peculiar service being provided by a person named Dr B Rajkumar has gone viral on social media. He claims that he can set up an ICU facility at the residence of patients who are in need of intensive care.