To curb the spread of COVID-19, the Andhra Pradesh government will begin a door-to-door survey for fever across the state from Saturday. As part of the survey, Auxiliary Nursing Midwifery (ANMs) and ASHA workers in all districts will check each household to identify people who have a fever. People with fever will be given COVID-19 medicine kits and be informed about how they can be isolated at home. 

The intention of the survey is to prevent the spread of the virus, besides bringing down pressure on hospitals — which are already witnessing a shortage of beds, state Principal Secretary Anil Kumar Singhal said in a press meet on Friday.

The door-to-door survey for fever was conducted during the first wave of COVID-19 too. In 2020, the government had conducted a two-day state-wide survey, identifying people with a travel history to COVID-19 affected countries. Besides ensuring that these people had quarantined themselves at home, they were also checked for symptoms of COVID-19.

The Principal Secretary said on Friday that recoveries are going up, bringing down the pressure on hospitals. As per the medical bulletin issued on Friday, 4,306 patients recovered in the state, and 5,523 patients are currently undergoing treatment in various hospitals. The state had recorded 22,018 COVID-19 cases and 96 deaths. 

He said that the gap between admissions and discharges at hospitals is coming down, and had hoped that more patients will be discharged from hospitals in the state in the next two to three days.

Addressing queries on oxygen supply, Singhal said that Andhra Pradesh had received 590 metric tonnes of medical oxygen as on Friday. The Tamil Nadu government has reportedly informed the state that it will not be able to supply medical oxygen for the next 5-6 days due to trouble at its Chennai oxygen plant. As an alternative arrangement, state officials have reached out to the Union government and the state governments of Kerala and Karnataka.