TS govt issues extreme precautions to prevent seasonal diseases

Hyderabad: The State government has suggested the people to follow some precautions to avoid or prevent the spread of seasonal diseases and Covid infections. Taking measures to curb the twin threats of seasonal ailments and the increasing number of daily Covid-19 infections, the Telangana government on Thursday directed the health department to be on a state of high-alert and urged people to be very cautious in the coming weeks.

Incessant rains have triggered a range of seasonal ailments including dengue, malaria and Acute Diarrhoea Diseases (ADDs) in most the districts. In addition to the spike in seasonal ailments, almost all the major municipalities are now witnessing a surge in Covid-19 infections.

A week ago, only three districts including areas under GHMC, Rangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts were witnessing a rise in Covid infections. However, for the past few days, daily Covid-19 infections are on the rise in other districts including Warangal, Sangareddy, Peddapalli, Siddipet, Nalgonda, Khammam, Mahabubabad, Mahabubnagar and Karimnagar.

The rise in Covid-19 daily infections in Telangana is also reflected in the number of cases of the new Omicron variant (B.A 2.75), which has risen to 10, according to the recent genome sequencing data from Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).

In a review meeting on seasonal diseases and Covid-19 infections, Health Minister, T Harish Rao directed the health department to organise health camps for a few more weeks. "Given the rise in cases of seasonal diseases and Covid-19, more health camps to treat cases of dengue, malaria and other viral fevers will be taken up. In the coming weeks, booster Covid vaccine doses will be administered to all the eligible individuals on a war footing," he said.

Meanwhile, Director of Public Health (DPH), Dr G Srinivasa Rao on Thursday appealed to the citizens to ensure they take precautions against seasonal diseases. "We are conducting fever surveys to identify individuals with typical symptoms of viral fevers and Covid-19 and treat them at the earliest. People at an individual level, must ensure they take precautions in their homes against seasonal diseases and Covid-19," he said.

Precautions issued by the State government is to maintain complete hygiene while having food, treat drinking water with chlorine tablet, drink lukewarm water in regular intervals, keep food items covered and take freshly cooked items only not to take stored food items, drink ORS regularly, wash hands properly before having food.

These are the don'ts that people follow: Do not let water stagnate in nearby areas, reduce contact with flood water as much as possible, keep away from infected people as many diseases are contagious, use a mosquito net while sleeping to stay protected from mosquito bites.