The district administration has identified eight private hospitals in the city to admit COVID-19 positive patients and treat them and is making efforts to increase it to 20 very soon with the help of District Medical and Health Officer K.V.N.S. Anil Kumar.
New COVID care facilities would also be opened soon in Dharmavaram, Tadipatri, Hindupur, Kadiri, Kannekal or Kalyandurg to accommodate 200 to 300 patients in each of them so that they do not have to travel all the way to Anantapur if the symptoms are mild and they can be treated in the CCCs, Collector Gandham Chandrudu said on Thursday.
Mr. Chandrudu visited the Sri Sathya Sai Super Speciality Hospital and the COVID Care Centre being run in Puttaparthi. There was a quarantine centre that was started in April near the super-speciality hospital. This quarantine centre will now be converted into a full-fledged COVID Hospital with all the critical care facilities and manned by the doctors of Sri Sathya Sai Super Speciality Hospital and Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital.
Coordinators appointed
After the Government General Hospital here has been declared exclusive COVID Hospital, patients are being identified as to who can be shifted to other private hospitals depending on their specialisation.
Meanwhile, coordinators have been appointed at each private hospital so that the positive patients are briefed on the procedure of treatment and coordination is maintained with the doctors.
With an increase in the number of tests, Anantapur district recorded the highest number of positive cases in a single day at 1,016 and Kurnool 904, taking the cumulative total of positive cases to 7,282 and 8,701 respectively at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
With one death being reported in Anantapur district and seven in Kurnool, the number of cumulative deaths has reached 81 and 142 respectively.
The discharge rate is good in Anantapur with 4,315 persons discharged and in Kurnool, 5,079 have been sent home after treatment.