Minister for Transport and I&PR Perni Venkataramaiah has asked officials to be gear themselves up to face the third wave of COVID-19 and make arrangements to ensure that patients who approach the government hospitals with symptoms are admitted within 15 minutes of their arrival.
In a review meeting at Machilipatnam on Thursday, Mr. Venkataramaiah asked the officials to put to use the Primary Health Centres and the Area Hospitals, and set up Village Isolation Centres to treat the patients locally.
He said that no patient should be turned away citing shortage of oxygen, medicines, or beds at the government facilities.
He sought to know from the Health Department officials if the ongoing fever survey in Machilipatnam was being conducted properly to identify all persons with COVID-19 symptoms.
The doctors brought to the notice of the Minister the issue of shortage of gloves and masks. They also told the Minister that the budget allocated for them had been reduced. They also stressed the need for a mobile X-ray facility.
Responding to the issues raised, the Minister asked the doctors to submit a list of required equipment and material that were not available in the hospitals for treatment of COVID-19.
Machilipatnam Mayor M. Venkateswaramma, Deputy Mayor L. Suribabu, Municipal Commissioner S. Sivarama Krishna, RDO Sk. Khajavali, DSP Imam Basha, tahsildar Sunil Babu, and District Hospital Superintendent Jaya Kumar were present.
