Samples of suspected patients from the coastal town of Visakhapatnam have tested positive for the old variant of Omicron.
The samples were sent by the government-run King George Hospital to the Pune Virology Department which confirmed the presence of the Omicron virus. All the patients who tested positive have recovered, according to hospital authorities.
“This is the old variant of Omicron. It is of very low grade. We had four cases and all had the same variant of Covid. The patients have flu-like symptoms like cold and cough. There is nothing to worry about. These are not the variants seen in other countries,“ said KGH superintendent, Dr. K Sivanand.
Given that Covid cases are on the rise in other countries and also in some parts of the country, the AP government has decided to ramp up testing. The Medical and Health Department has decided to increase the testing capacity. Special Principal Secretary of the Medical and Health Department, M.T. Krishna Babu held a review meeting with health officials in this regard.
According to officials, Covid tests are being conducted as per the rules for those visiting government public hospitals with symptoms like fever. The health department officials also discussed the availability of VTM (Viral Transmission Media) kits, RNA extraction kits and RTPCR kits required for conducting COVID tests.
The government has decided to increase the number of COVID tests to 1,000 people per day and steps would be taken to arrange the necessary kits to achieve this figure. The administration will also ensure that oxygen plants are made available in various government hospitals to be prepared for any eventualities.
The health department has decided to ensure that PPE kits, face masks ventilators and medicines are available in government hospitals. At the review meeting, Covid spread patterns should be closely monitored and analysed within the state and the country. All the connected departments have been alerted to work in coordination. Currently, there are around 4000 active Covid cases in the country with dozens of new cases being reported daily.
