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When India’s second coronavirus wave slammed the country last month, leaving many cities without enough doctors, nurses, hospital beds or lifesaving oxygen to cope, Sajeev V.B. got the help he needed.
Local health workers quarantined Sajeev, a 52-year-old mechanic, at home and connected him with a doctor over the phone. When he grew sicker, they mustered an ambulance that took him to a public hospital with an available bed. Oxygen was plentiful. He left 12 days later and was not billed for his treatment.
“I have no clue how the system works,” Sajeev said. “All that I did was to inform my local health worker when I tested positive. They took over everything from that point.”
‘Contact tracing, surveillance key to controlling pandemic’
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Virus likely to stay, but can be contained through responsible human behaviour, says epidemiologist
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It is important for people to make their own risk assessment in ensuring they don’t move out without a mask covering nose and mouth, maintain physical distancing and wash hands at regular intervals, says medical epidemiologist David Heymann.
| Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G
Virus likely to stay, but can be contained through responsible human behaviour, says epidemiologist
Good public health practice entails “contact tracing and surveillance” as they are the key to handling a pandemic like COVID-19. And, lessons can be learnt how countries like South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan have managed to control the outbreaks to small numbers and prevented community transmission, said David Heymann, medical epidemiologist and professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at
CoviSelf home tests will cost Rs. 250 per kit in the market
It is expected to reach pharmacies across the country by May end: Mylabs
New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved a home-based rapid antigen testing (RAT) kit for COVID-19, which will allow people to test themselves within 20 minutes without the need for going to a lab or sample collection by a healthcare professional. Manufactured by Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solutions Limited, CoviSelf is the first home test that has got the regulatory nod in the country.
To decipher the self-use kit, ICMR has issued detailed guidelines on who can use it and how. The ICMR has emphasised that indiscriminate testing is not advised in order to avoid shortage. To decode the results of the test, ICMR said in the guidelines,