Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Government established 104 call centre that are in need of Covid – 19 treatments. The 104 officials claim that hospital beds are being allocated to all who seek admission through ‘104’ service.

Staff manning the 104 call centre said they are facilitating hospital admissions to serious cases, and moderate cases are being referred to Triage, where they would either be routed to Covid – 19 Care Centres or advised home isolation. Many patients waiting outside hospitals were found to be those people who came directly to the hospitals or were patients who shifted from private to government institutions in the eleventh hour.

According to the official sources, there has been a sharp increase in the number of beds for Covid patients from 6,500 beds in Visakhapatnam after the private medical college hospitals of GITAM and Gayathri were converted into Covid hospitals. Besides, 1,360-bed Covid Care Centres were opened at Bakkannapalem and Pineapple Colony, and two more CCCs will function at Paderu in a couple of days.

A 30-member team under DRDA PD has been functioning at the 104 call centre in three shifts at Vishakhapatnam. The call centre is transferring information regarding cases necessary for hospital admission to the managements, and arranging the beds for the needy people in one-two hours.

Srikakulam District officials are arranging beds for Covid – 19 patients on being alerted through 104 call centres. It is taking long time for shifting them to hospitals or CCCs due to shortage of ambulances.