Hyderabad: Following the rise of Coronavirus positive infections driven by the Omicron variant, the State Health Minister, T Harish Rai on Friday has directed the health department to be on alert and be fully prepared to meet the requirements of patients during the third wave.
As part of the plan of the action to face the Covid third wave, Harish Rao said that 1 crore home isolation kits and 2 crore rapid antigen kits will be distributed to all the government health care facilities in Telangana.
Government health care facilities at every level will have adequate stock of home isolation kits and rapid antigen tests. People with symptoms can walk-in for testing and if they are Covid positive, then home isolation kits will be supplied to them on the spot. They will be directed to take home isolation immediately and their health status will be monitored regularly by the ASHA workers.
The third wave is spreading rapidly but preliminary indications are that the severity of the Omicron variant is less when compared to the Delta variant. People of Telangana should not panic and they should strive to make themselves aware of the symptoms of Omicron and get tested at the earliest.
“I urge people to avoid going to private hospitals and end-up incurring hefty out-of-pocket expenditure. Government hospitals across all the districts have facilities that are enough to provide proper guidance to treatment to people who test positive for Covid,” Harish Rao said.
The increase in Covid-19 infections, however, should not impact non-Covid health care facilities, which will continue to be available in all government hospitals in Telangana. “We have reached a very crucial stage and this is the time to provide health care services to public wholeheartedly,” Harish Rao urged the health department.
