VISAKHAPATNAM: Amid the rapid surge in Covid-19 cases, the state health department has shifted its focus to door-to-door fever surveys. Fever surveys have become an integral part of Covid-19 management and prevention in Andhra Pradesh ever since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.
The health department is currently conducting the 35th round fever survey. As of January 20, the survey covered about 61% of the 1.62 crore targeted households. The survey has so far identified 12,867 suspected cases. Home isolation kits have been given to about 8,300 people.
In the initial weeks of the first wave in 2020, the door-to-door survey mechanism was leveraged to identify foreign returnees and people having a travel history to other states. This was done as the initial Covid-19 cases were identified among the foreign returnees before community transmission started in Andhra Pradesh.
Later, the door-to-door survey was repurposed to identify suspected cases as this would help in timely testing, detection, and prevent further transmission. The comprehensive door-to-door surveys in the first wave identified nearly 32,700 suspected cases and the state subjected all of them to Covid-19 testing. The surveys conducted in the second wave recognised about 1.6 lakh suspected cases.
According to the officials, all the symptomatic patients are given home isolation kits. Moreover, Covid-19 samples will be collected from these persons for testing.
Andhra Pradesh is probably the first state in the country to conduct these many rounds of fever surveys for Covid-19 pandemic. The huge ward/village volunteer network, ANMs and Asha workers are the biggest advantage for the state to conduct any household survey.
State Covid-19 nodal officer and director, Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr K Rambabu, said the fever surveys are essential to single out the suspected cases. “It will help in early identification and testing of suspected Covid-19 cases and timely treatment. Continuous and effective surveillance activities are crucial to mitigate the impact of the pandemic,” said Dr Rambabu.
