Andhra deploys 52 new buses for COVID-19 testing in high-risk areas

The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday added 52 new buses in its fleet across all high-risk areas for COVID-19 testing.

A total number of 102 buses been stationed in various districts of the state collecting COVID-19 samples from across 95 locations.

"Intelligent Monitoring Analyses Services Quarantine (IMASQ) provides all kinds of services in a contactless digitised swab sample collection system, tracking and tracing on all containment zones. A total of 52 new buses have been dispatched to various districts," the Andhra Pradesh government said in a release.

Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar said, "102 special buses have been deployed only for mass testing purposes which can help them survey 10-12 people at the same time to avoid crowd gathering."

Bhasker added that multiple testing counters in the buses will facilitate a contactless procedure. Each bus has 10 counters, with three officials deployed at each counter.

The swab samples will be collected and be sent to the ICMR laboratories for further testing. Officials at the border check posts will verify the Aadhaar details of people entering the state via road.

"Each person's swab sample is collected and he/she is either directed to undergo institutional or home quarantine. Those at quarantine camps are tracked by Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) to ensure that no procedure is skipped," the Health Commissioner said.

ANMs visit the people in home quarantine every day, logs of which are recorded in ANM-APHEALTH portal," Bhaskar stated.

The government has also sent out notifications to recruit more medical professionals who will be allotted to different districts in the state.

Bhaskar stated that to improve the healthcare system from the primary to the tertiary level, a total number of 9,700 medical staff will be hired by the government to combat COVID-19.

( With inputs from ANI )