Vijayawada: CM YS Jagan alerts officials on Covid preparedness

Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the Medical and Health Department officials to have full preparedness in view of the reports of new variants of coronavirus spreading across the country.

At a review meeting of the department held here on Monday, the Chief Minister told them to take steps to conduct Covid tests and provide medicines at the village-level itself to the affected people. If patients of acute and long-term diseases fall prey to the virus, they should be immediately shifted to hospitals, he said.

Officials told him that the situation was under control and there was no need to get panicky. A fever survey has been conducted across the State and it is found that only 25 persons have been admitted to hospitals with Covid symptoms so far.

They said arrangements were in place to conduct Rapid Antigen tests at the village clinics and if necessary, blood samples would be sent for RT-PCR tests. Steps were initiated to conduct Covid tests on passengers coming from abroad at airports. They said they were taking steps to supply Oxygen wherever necessary to patients in hospitals.

The Chief Minister directed the officials to send diagnostic kits and necessary medicines which can treat the new variants to all villages so that village clinics would be ready to provide treatment to patients, in addition to preparing the labs well in all respects to conduct tests.

Officials told him that while works relating to the construction of new medical colleges in Vizianagaram, Machilipatnam, Rajamahendravaram, Eluru and Nandyal districts were in full swing according priority, similar works in other districts were also going ahead as per schedule.

The works relating to the kidney specialty hospital at Palasa, Cancer Institute at Kurnoo, and the GGH Super Speciality blocks including the cancer wing in YSR Kadapa have reached the final stage, they said.

Medical and Health Minister V Rajini, Chief Secretary Dr K S Jawahar Reddy, AP Medical Council Chairman Sambasiva Reddy, APMSIDC Chairman B. Chandrasekhara Reddy and VC and MD D Muraldhara Reddy, Medical & Health Principal Secretary MT Krishna Babu, Health & Family Welfare Commissioner J Nivas, Finance Secretary N Guljar, DG (Drugs) Ravi Shankar, APVVP Commissioner V Vinod Kumar and other officials were present.