The Telangana government, which is witnessing a surge in the number of Covid-19 positive cases, has begun focusing on alternate quarantine facilities to accommodate asymptomatic patients and others having mild symptoms. These quarantine facilities are for those who do not have the facility to observe home isolation or home quarantine, due to lack of separate rooms and bathrooms in their houses or flats.
By doing this, the government intends to reserve the state and private hospitals for the more critical patients and also check the spread of Coronavirus.
During the recent visit of the Central team to Hyderabad, the officials discussed providing quarantine facilities to Covid-19 patients in government offices and housing complexes. In the backdrop of such a situation, the officials are contemplating to use the double bedroom houses built for distribution to the poor as quarantine facilities.
Meanwhile, there is another question if the 2-bedroom houses could be used as quarantine facilities because they do not have drinking water, drainage and electricity supply.
There is information that the state government wants to set up quarantine facilities away from the hustle and bustle of the city, in the vacant government lands on the outskirts of the city, so that there are less chances of infection to others.
The state is registering a minimum of 700 cases per day and a majority of them are being reported from the GHMC limits. As of Monday, there are 10,000 active cases in the GHMC limits and a majority of them are in home quarantines.
Of these, many are being asymptomatic and showing mild symptoms. If all the patients are admitted to hospitals, then the more critical cases cannot be accommodated in the healthcare facilities, a doctor pointed out. “It is for this reason, we are suggesting home quarantine for many,” he added.
The government is also of the opinion that Covid-19 positive cases would increase with each passing day and there will be a need to provide more space in hospitals for them.
In the wake of the increasing number of cases and necessity to care of the patients, Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) at Gachibowli has been brought to use.
It is learnt that more than 70 per cent of the people in Hyderabad adjust in 2-3 room houses and also have single bathroom facility. In case of families living in congested houses, providing a separate room and bathroom during the quarantine period will prove a trouble to other family members. If the patients are not provided separate facilities, then there is risk of more and more people getting infected and even falling prey to the virus, as they come in contact with the patients at one point or the other.
The idea to utilise the 2-bedroom houses as quarantine facility has come to the fore even before the government has planned to open TIMS for Covid-19 patients.
As of now, as many as 8,800 2-BHK houses are ready to accommodate people and another 20,000 are likely to get ready in the near future. If these houses have to be used as quarantine centres, the government has to provide drinking water, drainage and sewage facilities on a war-footing.
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