Amid second wave, limited testing and vaccination pose a challenge in Andhra Pradesh

VISAKHAPATNAM: With the second wave of Covid-19 resulting in a rapid rise in cases and deaths, district health officials are now working towards increasing the number of beds, manpower and facilities at government hospitals in the city and at area hospitals across various mandals.
A boost in testing facilities is the need of the hour while doctors have urged people to follow Covid-19 guidelines to check the viral spread and mortality.They have also called for opening up the vaccination drive to those in the 18 to 45 age group, better availability of vaccines and increase in manufacturing.

“Currently, around 1,600 beds are available in the district for Covid-19 patients while 85% to 90% are mild or asymptomatic cases and are in home quarantine. A home isolation monitoring centre has been set up at Andhra Medical College with 40 faculty and staff members.
They are to call and check on mild Covid-19 patients under home isolation in urban and rural areas based on test reports and alert ANMs and ward volunteers,” Covid-19 nodal officer for north coastal AP, Dr PV Sudhakar, told TOI.
Medical superintendent at the Governments Hospital for Chest and Communicable Diseases (GHCCD), Dr KVV Vijaya Kumar said that while symptoms of the disease are more or less similar, the severity of infection has increased, indicating new strains or variants of the virus.
“Some patients, irrespective of their age or co-morbidities, are getting hypoxia in no time and are succumbing,” the doctor said.
Doctors have also called for upgrades to testing facilities with more labs, kits, and manpower. Currently, only RT-PCR testing facilities are available at AMC and few other private labs. Results through these tests take a few days to arrive and doctors have suggested the restoration of TrueNat testing and addressing the paucity of lab technicians.
“As per government of India’s order, TrueNat machines from our CDSC lab have been withdrawn and are to be used only for testing of tuberculosis. There is also no provision for separate swine flu tests and we have to depend on clinical analysis and treat accordingly.
While Covid cases are spiralling, instead of depending only on time-consuming RTPCR tests, where results are often delayed, we request the central government to restore TrueNat tests,” said Dr Vijaya Kumar.