Telangana State is at the seventh position from the bottom in terms of testing for COVID-19 and there is an abject need to increase testing in the twin cities as well as in the districts, said Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy on Sunday.
“We have given total freedom to states to take whatever measures are necessary to contain the spread. This includes increasing the containment zones, localised lockdowns and other measures as well as testing strategies. I request the government to ramp up testing. A rich and developed state like Telangana should take the lead,” he said.
The Union Minister was addressing the media after launching the Rotary Blood Plasma Bank in Ameerpet and stated he was in regular touch with Health Minister Eatala Rajender on COVID-19 management. “Mr. Rajender also assured us that testing will be increased. We did a record 10.25 lakh testing throughout the country yesterday. We had already supplied 14 lakh N95 masks, 2.45 lakh PPE kits, 1,400 ventilators, 2.2 lakh TR-PCR kits, 26,000 VTM kits and permitted 17 government and 32 private labs to test here,” he said.
Mr. Reddy also reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark that if five States including Telangana increased the testing numbers, the virus spread can be controlled. “There is no finality about the vaccine or when it is coming, so we have no other option but to protect ourselves and save our neighbours through masks, social distancing and personal hygiene,” he said, and hailed the initiative to launch the plasma bank.
Several lives can be saved through plasma donation but it was necessary to bring about greater awareness and motivate people to donate. “Anyone who has tested negative and without any side effects, can donate after 28 days,” he said. In this context, he had a word of praise for Cyberabad Police Commissioner V.C.Sajjanar for initiating an online portal for plasma donation.
Privacy and safety aspects have been preventing prospective donors from coming forward for the plasma donation whereas patient attendants had no clue about the availability and costs, said Rotary Challa Blood Bank chairman Sharath Chowdhary.
The new plasma facility will ensure a technician is sent to the donor’s home to check the antibody count and only if a doctor certifies the fitness will the plasma be taken. “It will not take more than 45 minutes. We will charge ₹10,500 a unit from those who can afford it,” Mr. Chowdhary said. Rotary Club of Hyderabad Deccan V.V.S. N. Raju was also present.
The Minister also inaugurated the Facial Recognition Attendance System – AIeNA (Artificial Intelligence enabled Attendance system) installed in the medical college through collaboration with DRDO, Ministry of Defence and Electronics Corporation of India Limited, Department of Atomic Energy, which is a non-touch, low cost, robust, foolproof, accurate system for marking attendance with real-time analytics and reports. The manual attendance paper registers are a source of infections. This technology is preventing the risk of infection in the institute.