The Visakhapatnam chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Praja Arogya Vedika, Visakhapatnam unit, have made some practical suggestions to the State government to check the spread of COVID-19 and to boost the confidence of the public.
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In a letter to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday, IMA Visakhapatnam chapter president P.A. Ramani and PAV State general secretary T. Kameswara Rao while appreciating the efforts of the State government, gave some suggestions for controlling the pandemic. They noted that a core group, consisting of three representatives each from the two organisations, had a brainstorming session on the issue recently.
The suggestions which came out of the session include: need to mitigate delay in revealing the test results. There are delays in revealing the test results to the people, ranging from two days to more than a week. This is causing unwarranted panic in the minds of people. The greatest problem with this delay is that the suspected patient can neither be quarantined nor given treatment.
On the other hand, this is giving a wide scope for spread of the virus to others. The involvement of private hospitals and doctors has to be increased as the pandemic is growing rapidly. Frontline volunteers should be given pulse oximeters to monitor cases, while they go on door-to-door survey as it will help in early identification of potential cases. Increase testing centres and make medicines available as more and more patients are being advised home quarantine. Shortage of some drugs like vitamin C with zinc is noticed, which is required to boost immunity. NGOs can be involved to undertake publicity campaigns and starting of a helpline to counsel the needy persons.
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