Stressing that social distancing is the only way to tackle COVID-19, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Health Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas (Alla Nani) has appealed to the public to cooperate with the government by not coming out of houses during the lockdown period. He expressed displeasure over many people venturing out of their homes without any reason disregarding the prohibitory orders.
At a press conference here on Tuesday, he lauded the doctors, municipal staff, police and other government officials working for the safety of public. He said that public need to understand these efforts and stick to their homes with social responsibility.
7 positive cases
Mr. Srinivas said the State had reported seven COVID-19 cases, including three from Visakhapatnam. The government had identified 14,038 foreign returnees till date and 2,426 of them had completed 28 days of home isolation. As of now, 11,560 were undergoing home isolation and 52 were in hospital, he added.
Of the 181 samples tested as on date, seven were positive for coronavirus and 166 negative. Reports of eight samples were awaited, he said.
Alert in Vizag
Visakhapatnam had already entered the second stage of COVID-19 and the first case of direct transmission was reported a few days ago. “In the third stage, the virus spread would be rapid among public. Citizens should be under self-isolation in homes in order to prevent it,” the Miinster said.
He said that the district administration had formed 20 committees to tackle the COVID-19 threat in the district.
“The foreign returnees in the district are under constant watch. Till now, 1,470 have been identified. A new list of 2,400 foreign returnees has been given by the Central government and they will be tracked within 24 hours,” the Minister added.
Mr. Srinivas said he would discuss setting up of COVID-19 testing laboratory at Visakhapatnam with Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. The government would also ensure adequate ventilators at all hospitals having isolation wards, he added.
“From March 29, the State government will be giving free ration for the beneficiaries. The Chief Minister has also announced ₹1,000 for every BPL family,” he said.
Flays Naidu
The Minister said former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu “should stop politicising each and every situation”. The State government was ready to accept if Mr. Naidu gave any valuable suggestion, but would not tolerate if he created hurdles for every move of the government, he said.
Agriculture Minister K. Kannababu, Tourism Minister M. Srinivas and Collector V. Vinay Chand were among those present.
