Though the incidence of COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh is low compared to that of the neighbouring States which have been witnessing hundreds of cases daily, the steady rise in the number of cases reported here has put the officials on their toes.
The State machinery is preparing to face any surge in the cases and following the guidelines of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHF). The Health Department has recently conducted a trial run for the implementation of COVID-19 treatment protocols in the hospitals in all the districts.
The officials are now focused on the shortcomings identified during the trial run, and necessary arrangements are being made to bridge the gap.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in a review meeting held recently, asked the health officials to make arrangements to detect the spread of COVID-19 and treat patients at the village level utilising the services of family doctors and village health clinics.
He asked the officials to ensure testing kits are available at all the village health clinics.
The Health Department is confident in handling any sudden rise in infections in the State as various medical facilities are already in place.
According to the officials, RT-PCR and rapid antigen testing for COVID-19 is available at 29 labs in the State. All the YSR Village Health Clinics are being provided with 10 rapid antigen kits in addition to those available at other medical facilities.
The State has over 68,000 beds, including 34,763 beds with oxygen supply and 54,000 quarantine beds. It also has 170 oxygen plants which can supply oxygen to 24,419 beds at various hospitals. There are 74 liquid medical oxygen tanks and 25 cryogenic tanks for the transport and storage of liquid oxygen. In addition to these, there are 55,933 D-Type oxygen cylinders and 34,021 oxygen concentrators.
The State also has an adequate number of PPE kits, masks and gloves and medicines needed for patients in home isolation.
About 420 COVID-19 infections have been reported in Andhra Pradesh since January, of which the maximum number of cases were reported in the past month. Between April 10 and 12, over a hundred cases were reported, and on April 12, there were 168 active cases.
COVID-19 preparedness in numbers
As per the Central government guidelines, the State machinery is preparing to face any surge in the cases
Vaccination
As per the government’s Cowin portal, so far, 11.09 crore doses of the COVID vaccine have been administered in the State. The first dose was administered to 4.47 crore, and 4.75 crore received the second dose. The precautionary booster dose was administered to only 1.86 crore.
Minister for Health, Medical and Family Welfare Vidadala Rajini has recently sought a supply of 20 lakh precaution doses to the State from the Centre. She also asked the Centre to provide funds for more oxygen plants.
Meanwhile, the State government has asked the people, particularly those suffering from cold and cough and other symptoms, to wear masks as a precautionary measure.
