Tirupati: To reduce burden on Corona hospitals, civic body focuses on home isolation

Tirupati: To reduce the burden on Covid hospitals in the pilgrim city, the civic administration is now focusing on home isolation. So far, 300 free home kits were provided to the corona positives, who have opted for home isolation in the city while the Corporation is reading for providing more free home isolation kits keeping in view of the unabated increase of Covid cases in the city.

The city has been witnessing a surge of Covid-19 cases forcing the district administration to open up more centres for treatment of infected, the number of which is nearing 6,000 (with active cases about 2,500-3,000 after discharge of cases after treatment) due to the galloping of cases particularly in the last 4-5 days.

Corporation Health Officer Dr DT Sudharani said the patients, who wish to be on home isolation, will be first to send to any one of the Covid centres including at SVRR Hospital, Srinivasam and the newly set up triage centre at TTD run SV Ayurveda College for performing a through diagnostics.

Only after the certification from the nodal officers of any of these centres ascertaining that the patients are fit for home isolation, they will be permitted and the free kits will be provided to them for treatment from their homes, she explained.

The ward level health secretary, ward volunteers will collect the details of infected persons preferring for home isolation for further steps of performance of medical examination and providing free home isolation kits, she averred.

Further, the Covid patients should have minimum facilities for allowing them for home isolation which include a separate bed room with attached bathroom and a person to cook and prepare food items for providing to infected as the timely food and medicines are pivotal for the speedy recovery of positive cases.

The home isolation will help to reduce the burden on the Covid hospitals here by providing treatment to positive cases more so the asymptomatic and mild cases, she added.

The free home isolation kits contains medicines sufficient for ten days, disposable face masks, sanitisers and also a leaflet containing guidelines i.e.the do's and don't's for the infected persons, the Health Officer said adding that the concerned ward volunteer and ward health secretary (ANM) will visit them daily monitoring their health condition and a doctor also in contact with them daily once or twice providing required guidelines. In case of any emergency, arrangements are in place to take them to the Covid hospital for treatment, she added.

She said that the Corporation was readying another 1,000 home isolation kits which will be disbursed through ward volunteers and health secretaries to the patients seeking home isolation.