Visakhapatnam: Minister Kurasala Kannababu bats for collective fight against second wave

Visakhapatnam: District in-charge and Agriculture Minister Kurasala Kannababu warned that if government hospital managements failed to mend their ways, stringent action will be taken against them.

Referring to KGH and VIMS hospitals wherein discrepancies in treating Covid patients came to light, the minister at a review meeting held with the concerned officials at VMRDA Children's Arena here on Wednesday, directed the VIMS management to ensure that the patients' information be made available and it should focus on improving the treatment quality.

The minister called for a collective fight against the Covid second wave. Kannababu said those in need of beds should gain access to one to get treated for coronavirus and the hospitals should provide treatment in a transparent manner.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajya Sabha MP V Vijayasai Reddy called for strict measures to overcome the shortcomings of drug control and management. Authorities concerned were directed to take appropriate action against those selling Remdesivir injections in the black market. The MP said Andhra Pradesh was providing quality treatment to the Covid patients.

Earlier, District Collector V Vinay Chand explained the steps taken to control Covid in the district through a digital presentation. The district conducted 2.38 lakh corona tests during the month of March and of them, 16,939 were tested positive, taking the positivity rate to 7.12 per cent. 59 people succumbed to the virus, the Collector mentioned.

"We are raising awareness among people about the infection and campaigning in various ways," the Collector said. The district has 12 A category Kovid hospitals and 51B category hospitals with a total of 6,763 beds, including 1,047 oxygen ICU, 2,788 oxygen, 2,939 oxygen deprived beds and 716 ventilators. To date, 86 per cent of the 61,464 medical personnel have been vaccinated and 97 per cent of the 79,426 frontline workers have been vaccinated.

The meeting was attended by Visakhapatnam City Mayor G Hari Venkata Kumari, Commissioner of Police Manish Kumar Sinha, Superintendent of Police, Visakhapatnam district B Krishna Rao, GVMC Commissioner G Srijana, ITDA PO S Venkateshwar, Araku MP G Madhavi, Joint Collector P Arun Babu, among others.

Road Transport Authority officials launched posters designed to create awareness on Covid-19 on the occasion.