September to remain crucial for Vizag in battle against COVID-19: District Collector

In view of the coronavirus pandemic, Visakhapatnam District Collector, V Vinay Chand (IAS), held a review meeting with the nodal officers of COVID hospitals in the district, on Monday. Pointing out the surge in the cases, the District Collector informed the officials that September will remain a crucial month for Vizag in the battle against the virus.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the Andhra Pradesh state government has been prioritising the health care of patients and providing them with better medical services. Mr Chand added that doctors, nurses, help desk managers, and other staff have been recruited to overcome the shortage of human resources at hospitals and healthcare facilities. Stating that September will remain a crucial month for Vizag, the District Collector directed the administration to amp up the measures.

He asked the nodal officers to verify the attendance of the paramedical staff and pay their salaries accordingly. Mr Chand further added that help desks should be maintained in each of these hospitals. Admissions, discharge data, details of vacant beds should be uploaded in the Women and Child Care Portal. He asked the officials to set up two landline telephones – to contact the staff in the hospital wards with one phone and to provide proper information to the patient’s relatives from another telephone and record the details in the register. The nodal officers were ordered to constantly review the CCTV camera footage in the wards and monitor the services offered to the patients.

Meanwhile, as many as 1025 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 in Vizag between Monday and Tuesday. With the newly registered cases, the district tally surpassed the 38,000-mark on 1 September. According to the update released by Visakhapatnam COVID-19 Special Officer, Dr PV Sudhakar, out of the 38,131 people, 6542 coronavirus patients are receiving treatment and 31,324 individuals have been discharged so far.

The morning update further stated that seven more individuals in Visakhapatnam succumbed to coronavirus in a span of 24 hours, taking the death toll of the district to 265. As on 1 September, Vizag has 49 very active clusters, 60 active clusters, 629 dormant clusters, and 171 denotified clusters.