Coronavirus Outbreak: 16 doctors trained to form rapid response teams in Vizag

In the wake of the rapidly spreading coronavirus (COVID 19), a team of 16 doctors in Vizag has been trained to handle all the incoming cases. The training session was conducted on Monday at Government Hospital for Chest and Communicable Diseases. All the 16 doctors hail from the coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, and East Godavari.

State Nodal officer Ram Babu conducted the training session and elaborated that all doctors must be ready with personal protection equipment before treating any patient with the symptoms. The officer urged all the attendees to be extremely careful while dealing with the patients in isolation and collecting their samples for testing. Any error in the procedure could result in grave consequences, the officer cautioned.

Three nodal centres have been set up at government medical colleges in Vizag, Guntur, and Tirupati to train doctors to handle the crisis of coronavirus. The doctors are being trained to form rapid response teams. Every rapid response team will consist of four members: a general physician, an epidemiologist, a community medicine expert, and a microbiologist.

At present, all samples are being collected from suspected patients at the virology lab at AMC-King George Hospital in Vizag. They are being sent to Gandhi Medical College in Hyderabad to conduct PCR and Elisa tests. In some cases, the samples are being transported to a virology lab in Pune for further tests. As of today, there have been no positive cases of coronavirus reported in Andhra Pradesh. As per previously issued precautionary measures, the health officials have suggested all citizens be vigilant, wash hands regularly and report themselves to a hospital in case of any symptoms.