COVID-19: KCR Govt. To Focus On Preventing Community Transmission

The Telangana government has decided to start focusing on the possibility of community transmission of COVID-19 across the State.

The Director of Public Health and Family Welfare has directed all private and government hospitals to share details of patients who come to them for treatment from Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) and pneumonia.

"Given the COVID-19 outbreak. This will be used as a surrogate marker for COVID-19. A rising trend of SARI or pneumonia cases will trigger the need for further investigation of COVID-19," said Dr. G. Srinivas Rao, Director of Public Health and Family Welfare.

Pneumonia surveillance will be done in hospitals where the majority of patients get admitted for severe respiratory problems, identical to those seen in COVID-19. All district hospitals, teaching hospitals, corporate hospitals, and other private hospitals are being identified as sentinel sites for surveillance.

The hospitals must daily report the number of admissions due to pneumonia and respiratory infections and also the number of deaths due to such infections. The authorities have also issued broad criteria to identify the cases. Patients should be above 15 years of age, with respiratory symptoms, severe cough, fever, shortness of breath and hospitalization.

If patients have all the above 4 conditions, then such cases should be immediately reported to the State IDSP (Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme) teams on Whatsapp at the number 90597-46612 or mail to idsp@telangana.gov.in