Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a video-conference on Monday that Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) was able to control COVID-19 to a large extent by diligently following the guidelines laid down by the Central government in the last two months.
The State required ₹16,000 crore for strengthening medical infrastructure and the Centre should help in that regard. Plus, the State was looking for an economic stimulus package to overcome the crisis, he said.
‘Evolve SOPs’
However, Mr. Jagan suggested that standard operating procedures (SOPs)for workplaces, markets and the manufacturing sector have to be evolved without any ambiguity and further relaxations were required.
He said a comprehensive survey was conducted thrice and the protocols were being strictly complied with, and insisted that confidence should be created among people that winning the battle against COVID was not impossible.
Mr. Jagan said people infected by coronavirus were being discriminated against in spite of the awareness being created about it. Because of the social stigma that came to be associated with COVID, many people were not forthcoming on their health condition.
‘Major impediment’
This was a major impediment in the fight against COVID, the Chief Minister observed.
Mr. Jagan underlined the fact that 98% of the cases were curable and in 85%, there were only mild symptoms. He stressed the need to keep social distance, wear masks while going out and maintain personal hygiene, and went on to give a detailed account of the containment measures taken by the State.
