Telangana State forms crack team to fight coronavirus

A crack team of 200 committed healthcare workers, who can discharge their duties even if coronavirus becomes aggressive, has been formed by State health officials.

Drawn from the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and the Directorate of Health (DH), the selected field-level healthcare workers are being described as ‘highly motivated, honest and committed’ to discharge their duties. They are being put through rigorous training by senior public healthcare workers.

The team will be deployed for surveillance and is being trained to handle medical equipment. It will be provided with personal protection equipment and vital knowledge of protocols set by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on handling COVID-19 patients.

Health Minister Etela Rajender said the State government was even ready to allot 80,000 isolation rooms, if COVID-19 becomes a pandemic. 

“Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao made it clear that he is even ready to provide the empty two-bedroom houses that were constructed for urban poor in



Hyderabad and surroundings to isolate coronavirus patients. Infrastructure wise, we are far better prepared than any other Indian State,” the Minister said.

Senior doctors and public health officials from the State are heading to Kerala to interact with the administration which has managed to treat three COVID-19 positive cases.

The State government has issued instructions to private hospitals in the city on how suspected COVID-19 patients have to be treated. At a meeting with over 70 private hospitals on Thursday, health officials made it clear that private hospitals should strictly follow the protocol of treating coronavirus cases.

“We will even set the cost of the treatment of suspected COVID-19 patients, and private hospitals cannot charge more than that. The protocols to treat suspected cases come directly from the Health Ministry and private hospitals must follow them. We have also asked them to be transparent and share information related to such patients with us,” he said.