Hyderabad: No food, no water for health teams in Paramount Colony

Hyderabad: The Paramount Colony in Tolichowki, the first residential area in the State where two Omicron-infected persons have been traced, after missing for several hours. They were shifted to the isolation centrewhere around 25 health teams are deployed collect samples from foreign nationals for RT-PCR test. The teams have been on field for almost four-six hours with no food and water.

The health department officials also carried out a door-to-door survey in Paramount Colony. An estimated 700 homes were surveyed after cases of the Omicron variant were detected on December 15. This task took two days for the teams.

Each team consists of a lab technician, an Auxiliary Nursing Midwife (ANM), an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA), a medical officer, and two four staffers of the Entomology and Sanitation wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

The tired teams said food, water and other resources were not provided to them during their elaborate field work. They went homes to collect samples for RT-PCR tests.

The testing centres were set up at restaurants as most families do not cook their own food, increasing the workload and pressure on the teams as they had to even collect samples from foreign nationals visiting eateries in Tolichowki.

The teams have been working for two days. They started at around 7.30 am on Wednesday and ended at 11 pm. But they were unable to complete the task and had to go on field for another day which took almost seven-eight hours on Thursday.

With no facilities, the teams had to buy food and water while performing duty.

A Health worker said, "We were not provided with food and water; had to work for entire day. With no option staff had to purchase while on duty."