Telangana Government nod for 24/7 sample collection

Hyderabad: Taken aback by the death of two Covid-19 patients in 24 hours and the state Home Minister Mahmood Ali testing positive, the state government on Monday decided to go in for round-the-clock swab sample collection at the Government General Hospital in King Koti, apart from other designated government hospitals where sample collection will be done throughout the day.

Health Minister Eatala Rajender, expressing his displeasure over the media particularly social media for spreading wrong news alleging that the facilities in government hospitals was not good, said the state government was the first one to take necessary measures to handle the situation. He called upon the media to show restraint while reporting.

He said the people who have a suspicion that they might be infected with coronavirus should first visit the Government Hospital at King Koti, Fever Hospital or Osmania General Hospital, where samples will be collected and sent for testing.

In case the swab samples are positive, then depending on the patient's condition, they will be either admitted to Gandhi Hospital or will be kept under home isolation, Eatala said.

He said suspected cases should go straight to Gandhi Hospital, as it is the only in-patient hospital where positive cases are being admitted for treatment and there is no OP facility.

He asked the people not to run to all hospitals. Patients with Covid or non-Covid symptoms would be given admission and will not be sent back at any cost, he said.

Commenting on big surge in cases in the GHMC limits and the impending lockdown reports, Eatala said that most of the big cities in the country are facing this situation.

He said that although cases are on the rise, the positive thing is that death rate is just 1.7 percent which is below the country's figure that is over 3. He added that in the next few days Telangana would have nearly 10,000 beds equipped with oxygen support. At present, we have 3,500 beds with such facility, he added.

The minister said soon Covid treatment will also commence in teaching hospitals associated with private medical colleges after which Telangana's Covid bed strength will be over 17,000, he said. Also, 150 ambulances are being added to the existing fleet of over 300 to shift patients without any problems.