Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday reviewed precautions to be taken for an anticipated third wave.
As schools in Andhra Pradesh started reopening from August 16, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday directed officials to make arrangements to test symptomatic students for COVID-19 as a precautionary measure. “Make arrangements for testing of symptomatic students in the schools,” Jagan said at a review meeting to take stock of the pandemic. He instructed officials to implement strict COVID-19 protocols in schools across the state, including following physical distancing and wearing masks. The Chief Minister also reviewed precautions to be taken for an anticipated third wave. He directed that village and ward secretariats should be taken as a unit for vaccination and administration of vaccines must be done on priority.
Announcing that COVID-19 curfew relaxations have been extended by an hour from 6 am to 11 pm, he also insisted that permission should be taken early for marriages and only 150 people should be allowed to gather. According to reports, the Chief Minister has also ordered that more doctors and health staff be recruited at all government hospitals starting from Primary Health Care centers to teaching hospitals within 90 days. Officials informed Jagan that the COVID-19 recovery rate has touched 98.45%. According to officials, the COVID-19 positivity rate currently stands at 1.94%, being less than 3% in 10 districts and between 3% and 6% in three districts.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday registered 1,063 new COVID-19 cases, taking the state’s overall tally beyond 19.9 lakh, even as its active cases dropped to 16,341. Of all the districts, Chittoor district reported the highest number of cases at 211, followed by Nellore with 198, West Godavari at 147, Guntur at 104, Krishna at 103, Prakasam at 98, Visakhapatnam at 61, East Godavari at 53, Srikakulam at 30, Kurnool at 17, Vizianagaram at 12, and Anantapur at 10. East Godavari tops the chart with more than 2.8 lakh cases, followed by Chittoor with 2.3 lakh.
(With IANS inputs)
