Ongole: People told to be careful as Covid spreading fast

Ongole: Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy said that there should not be any doubt over the efficiency of the Covid-19 vaccine nor its availability in the State. He conducted a review meeting on the control and containment of coronavirus with the district officials in the Collectorate on Monday.

Addressing a press meet, the minister said that the public should be very much careful as the coronavirus is spreading fast in the second wave. He said that the district administration is assessing the situation on a daily basis and taking appropriate action to contain and control it. He said that the collector appointed a task force committee and it is observing the trend in registering new cases, vaccination, vaccine availability etc very carefully.

He said that the government is taking action to vaccinate all people above 45 years of age. "They are expecting about 50,000 to 60,000 doses of vaccine to reach the district by Monday night or Tuesday." The minister announced that they will inaugurate the CT Scan and MRI machinery in the Government General Hospital on April 24 and ordered the officials to make the arrangements.

Ongole MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy appreciated the district management that they took better action to control the coronavirus than other districts. He expressed happiness that the officials have already made arrangements for the Covid-19 treatment at the government hospitals while preparing the private hospitals for emergencies. Collector Dr Pola Bhaskara explained that they are creating awareness at the village secretariat level to the public on testing, tracing and treatment along with the precautions required to stop the coronavirus from spreading.

He said that as the Central government declared that it will send the stock of vaccine only after the complete utilisation of the existing stock, they are taking appropriate action for optimum utilisation of vaccine at the secretariat level. He said that when the patients have mild symptoms, they are keeping them in the home isolation, but when they turn serious, they are being shifted to the hospital for better treatment.

He announced that there were no Covid Care Centres in the district as of now but will open them based on the necessity. He informed that they have notified 11 private hospitals in the district including 9 in Ongole and 2 in Chirala, for Covid treatment.