Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender on Saturday said that the state government will be procuring and using modern equipment to carry out cleaning work in COVID-19 hospitals. Equipment, now available for cleaning floors, walls and bathrooms, will be purchased and given to the hospitals, Eatala said.
There is a severe shortage of sanitary workers in hospitals treating COVID-19 patients as many of them are scared of the way in which the coronavirus spreads, an official press release from the Health Minister's office said.
"One machine can do the work of 10 people,” the press release said, adding that special machines to transfer patients' waste would also be purchased.
Hotpack equipment, used in aeroplanes, would be utilised to serve hot food to the patients, the release added.
Meanwhile, in a related development, a lab technician with a state-run hospital in Hyderabad died of COVID-19 on Saturday. The 59-year-old lab technician, who tested positive for the coronavirus about a fortnight ago, was in home quarantine for a few days.
He was admitted to the hospital after developing health issues. He was then shifted to another government hospital for better care where he succumbed in the early hours of Saturday. The lab technician was also put on ventilator support as part of the treatment.
Earlier, two private doctors, who were not involved in treating COVID-19 patients, succumbed to the virus in Telangana.
The Telangana government did not release a medical bulletin on Saturday.
In a message, Dr Srinivasa Rao, the Director of Public Health and Family Welfare said, "No media bulletin today (Saturday) as we are releasing the bulletin tomorrow morning (Sunday) in new format. Sorry for the inconvenience caused."
As of Friday, the state has reported a total of 52,466 cases of COVID-19. Out of this, 11,677 (or 22.1%) of all cases are active, with 40,334 people discharged after recovery and 447 people dead.
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