Anantapur district had witnessed less than 250 COVID-19 positive cases till the end of Lockdown 4.0, which ended on May 28. However, the total number of cases in the district now stands at 1,312, according to the Medical and Health Department’s bulletin on Thursday.
Currently, 857 active cases are being treated either in hospitals, COVID-19 Care Centres or in home isolation and 32 deaths have been recorded, while 423 persons have been discharged after recovering from the virus. Determining the exact details at the ground-level has proven to be difficult as the bulletin divides cases into categories like those who are residing in the district, those who have come from other States, and those who have come from abroad. The bulletin lists only seven COVID-related deaths in the district.
“The saving grace for the district is the low number of COVID-19 positive cases that need a ventilator (10 so far). Only 60 patients need to be oxygenated (60), and the remaining have very mild symptoms, which can be treated anywhere,” District Medical and Health Officer K.V.N.S. Anil Kumar told The Hindu.
The Government General Hospital here has got a new 13 Kilo Liters Liquid Oxygen Plant of Maximum Allowable Working Pressure (MAWP) 17 Bar, which is being tested for its functionality, in a big relief for the medical fraternity.
Similar plants would be set up at Kadiri and Guntakal soon as the works are in progress and another one is likely to come up at Hindupur Government Hospital, in anticipation of a rise in cases in the district in the near future. Officials expect the cases to peak around July 15.
Currently, there are 60 ICU beds at KIMS Saveera, 125 at RDT Bathalapalli Hospital, and 40 at Hindupur Government Hospital while 90 are being readied at the new Super-Speciality Hospital in Anantapur.
While many COVID patients with mild symptoms prefer home isolation during treatment, social stigma is bringing them back to government hospitals putting pressure on the institutional infrastructure. In some home isolation cases, even family members have requested authorities to relocate patients to hospitals to avoid personal inconvenience or social stigma.
