CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials put on high alert: Covid-19

Amaravati: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials to be on high alert over the spike in Covid-19 cases in connection with the Koyambedu market returnees and speed up the testing process.

Briefing the status of Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, officials told him that 33 new cases were reported across the state in the last 24 hours, taking the state tally to 2,051. The new cases from Chittoor, Nellore, and East Godavari were the individuals who have had a connection with the Koyambedu market in Chennai. The large-scale outbreak of cases in Koyambedu vegetable and fruit market in Chennai has led to a sudden spike in the number of coronavirus cases in Nellore and Chittoor districts in Andhra Pradesh. However, the recovery rate has been 51.49 per cent against the national average of 31.86 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister once again stressed on removing the stigma over coronavirus from the public and instil confidence among them to fight over the virus. He instructed the officials to bring awareness among the public over Covid-19 in order to control the further spread.

In addition to these, the Chief Minister directed the officials to go with an aggressive approach in the procurement of paddy, to make sure all the farmers are satisfied over the returns. He alerted the officials to lay special focus on the aqua exports. Officials were told to be ready for the launch of Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs), scheduled for May 30.

Minister for medical and health Alla Kali Krishna, chief secretary Nilam Sawhney, DGP Gowtham Sawang, special chief secretary K S Jawahar Reddy were among those present at the review meeting.

Meanwhile, briefing media on Covid-19 separately, K S Jawahar Reddy said that the state stood first in the country with the highest number of tests per million people, surpassing 13 countries on that count. It is also ahead of 27 countries going by the total number of tests done. The Covid-19 positive rate for the country is 4.02 per cent and for the state, it is 1.07 per cent, which is the lowest in the entire country. With the influx of migrant labour from high-risk zones like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan, the number of cases is likely to go up and thus 37 new positive cases came up in Kurnool from the migrant labour on Tuesday.

He further said that the state government was going to lay focus on high-risk categories, by conducting tests on 60+ age and for those with comorbid conditions.

As far as the post lockdown exit plan was considered, six committees were formed to study various aspects like industries, agriculture, the functioning of offices, transport and other areas. Based on the reports from the committees, the future course of action

will be decided.