Telangana to go for more Covid tests

Hyderabad: With rise in Covid infections in the state, Telangana has decided to increase testing capacities in the state. At present tests are being done at nine facilities, including Gandhi, OMC, Fever, IPM, MGM -Warangal and henceforth will be extended to teaching hospitals as well.

CB NAAT machines, that do preliminary Covid testing and give results in just two hours, will be kept in teaching hospitals. Giving these details on Friday, Health Minister Eatala Rajender said that his department will take all steps to instill confidence among the medical fraternity in the wake of rise in Covid infections among doctors in the last few days.

Stating that rotational duties of seven days duty and seven days of home quarantine is being extended to doctors in all teaching hospitals, Eatala dismissed the allegations that doctors are getting affected due to lack of PPE kits. Eatala said that safety equipments are being provided to the frontline health staff as per ICMR guidelines. The state has adequate stocks of PPE kits, N95 masks, HCQ and Azithromycin tablets, he stressed.

The Health Minister stated that they have began recruitment process to appoint over 3,000 staff, including doctors in various hospitals in the state. Eatala said that they have not given nod to Covid testing in private labs due to various reasons. Covid test has to be prescribed by a doctor after observing symptoms and after patient gets admitted in a hospital which is not possible in a private lab. He further said there will be lose track of test count if private labs allowed to test, he felt.