Rajasthan Government on Monday directed all the medical shop owners in the state to not sell the medicines of cold, cough and fever to people without a written prescription from a doctor.
The pharmacists are asked to note down the name, address and phone number of patients who come to buy medicines for fever, cough and cold and inform the in-charge of the nearest health centre.
Since the symptoms of COVID-19 are same as that of the normal flu or Swine Flu, the patients or their caretaker are buying the medicines for these symptoms over the counter without consulting the doctor.
It was observed the people with COVID-19 like symptoms are avoiding getting tested for the virus.
Besides, to keep a track of the spread of COVID-19, other states in the country have also issued advisories asking medical shop owners and chemists to keep a track of all the cough/cold/flu medicines sold.
States like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Orrisa, Maharashtra & parts of Bihar have issued advisories to medical shops and chemists to keep a record of people who buy cough, cold or fever medicine. These shop owners in these states also have also been asked to record the address, name & phone number of people to come to buy medicines for the said symptoms.
The authorities are planning to collect the list daily to trace people and subsequently test them for COVID-19, the report said.