Omicron alert: Fever survey to start in Andhra from Dec 20

Andhra Pradesh government has decided to conduct the 34th Fever Survey in the state from December 20.

District Medical & Health Offices have instructed all the districts to conduct household visits for early identification of symptomatic cases and provide timely intervention.

The survey was also necessitated that some of the people with foreign travel history are arriving in Andhra Pradesh from Omicron-hit states.

The survey will be conducted by Asha workers, village/ward volunteers who would go door-door to check if any individual in the house is having fever or any other symptoms of Covid. The survey will be conducted five days a week and the details will be uploaded on the App.

The first fever survey was conducted during the first wave pandemic in 2020. It was aimed to identify foreign returnees with symptoms. A similar survey was conducted in the second wave.

The aim of the survey is to prevent the spread of the virus and ease pressure on hospitals. During the second wave, all the hospitals witnessed a shortage of beds. Many deaths were reported because there were not enough Oxygen beds.

As per the official data, around 32,000 suspected cases of Coved were identified in the first wave. The situation in the second wave was even worse. More than 1.55 lakh individuals with symptoms were identified during an earlier fever survey this year.

Conducting Covid tests, the medical teams direct the patients to go for home isolation or get admitted to the hospital. For those under home isolation, doctors are available through teleconsultation. According to Public Health officials, around 1500-2000 foreign returnees are traveling to the state every day post-Omicron outbreak. Around 26,000 foreign travelers have come to Andhra Pradesh from December 1-17.

Health teams have been posted at all the airports in Andhra Pradesh to test people especially foreign returnees. Those with positive reports are kept under home isolation and their reports are sent to the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad for genome testing.