Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh government's innovative door-to-door campaign is proving effective in tracking foreign returnees and containing the COVID-19 outbreak in the state. Authorities deployed over 2.5 lakh volunteers, each with the responsibility of screening 50 households. The volunteer network has screened a total of 1,38,58,747 households by now out of the registered 1,43, 91,654 present in the state.
The campaign has helped the government identify and track 10,000 foreign returnees over and above those informed about by the Centre. Of these 10,000, 140 have shown symptoms of novel coronavirus infection while the remaining 9,860 have been asymptomatic. The cut-off date to track foreign returnees has been set on as February 10, 2020.
The volunteers are also responsible for spreading awareness about the 'dos and don’ts' regarding COVID-19 to each member of a family. The government aims to reach every household in the state through this campaign. Authorities are now expanding the ambit of the drive, turning the focus on even those without a travel history—anybody who is symptomatic is to be identified and reported.
Due to this campaign, authorities can pin down those people whose details aren't mentioned in the Centre's records and those who intentionally hide their travel history.
So each volunteer is responsible for 50 households. And if there are any symptomatic persons or foreign returnees in one of these 50 households, a volunteer is to make an entry in a mobile application provided. These entries are directly monitored by the district health authorities and primary healthcare centers. Depending on the needs of a specific case, health teams are rushed to the spot, and appropriate action is taken.
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