Amaravati, Jul 17 (IANS): With the stakes continuously rising in the war against Covid-19, the Andhra Pradesh government has deployed 52 new buses to supplement the present vehicles for testing samples positioned across all high risk areas in the state.

A total of 102 buses are now stationed in various districts, collecting samples from across 95 locations. The intelligent monitoring analysis services quarantine (iMASQ)system provides a contactless digitised swab sample collection system, and tracking and tracing in all containment zones.

Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar said: "102 special buses have been deployed only for mass testing purposes which them survey 10-12 people at the same time, to avoid a crowd gathering."

Bhaskar added that multiple testing counters in the buses will facilitate a zero contact procedure. Each bus has 10 counters, with three officials deployed at each counter.

"The swab samples will be collected and sent to the ICMR laboratories for further testing. Officials at the border check posts verify the details of people entering the state by road with the help of Aadhaar numbers. Each person's swab sample is collected and he/she is either directed to undergo institutional or home quarantine. Those at quarantine camps are tracked to ensure that no procedure is skipped."

Apart from deploying the modified buses, the state government has also issued notifications for recruiting more medical professionals to be assigned to different districts in the state. Bhaskar stated that to improve the health system from the primary to the tertiary level, a total number of 9,700 medical staff will be hired for further requirement in fighting the pandemic.