Reportedly in the wake of rising coronavirus cases, authorities in several states have asked medical shops and pharmacists to keep a record of phone number and address of customers who buy medicines for fever, cough and cold -symptoms similar to Covid-19. Advisories have been issued in this regard to chemists in states like telangana, andhra pradesh, maharashtra, odisha and parts of Bihar. While in some states the officials have been clear that the information will be shared with authorities to ensure that people are not hiding symptoms of coronavirus, others said it was just a precautionary measure.
In a memo to all municipal commissioners and additional collectors of districts, Telangana's Principal Secretary (Municipal Administration and Urban Development) Arvind Kumar said it has been observed that due to "hesitation and perceived social stigma", people suffering from fever or cold symptoms which might be similar to coronavirus are approaching the medical shops directly on their own and asking for fever medicines.
"It is imperative that in a proactive manner we follow up on these cases which are having fever and other such symptoms which might be similar to those of coronavirus. It said "We should be able to contact these patients and get a test conducted depending upon the symptoms". Kumar instructed the officials to convene a meeting with all medical shops and pharmacists including respective associations and instruct them to necessarily take the contact address and phone numbers of customers who approach them to buy these medicines. He asked the officials to get the list from the pharmacies and maintain a directory of all such cases and get the tests done if the symptoms are similar to Covid-19.
click and follow Indiaherald WhatsApp channel