CM Jagan asks officials to be ready for the third wave of Covid-19 in AP

AP Chief Minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, asked officials to gear up to face the impending third wave of Covid-19. The Chief Minister had reviewed the ongoing pandemic situation in Andhra Pradesh, along with the respective officials, at his Tadepalli camp office. He advised them to spruce up the vaccination drives while adhering to the strict Covid-19 protocol.

As schools reopened, on 16 August 2021, the Chief Minister directed officials to make arrangements to test symptomatic students on Tuesday. As precautionary measures, he asked the school officials to follow strict Covid-19 protocols, ensuring that all the students, and administrative staff and management,  wear double masks and follow social distancing. 

The night curfew timings in Andhra Pradesh have been reduced by an hour. The revised timings are from 11 PM to 6 AM. The Chief Minister insisted that special permission be taken for marriages and only 150 people are allowed to attend the event at any given time. 

The Chief Minister also advised the officials, and the AP Health Department, to prepare the hospitals for the third wave and keep an eye out for fake medicines in the market. The officials were also asked to use their prior experiences, from the first and the second waves, to handle the upcoming third wave. 

The officials were directed to complete all hospital renovations under the Nadu-Nedu program at the earliest. He also asked to complete the process of new recruits without any delay. The Chief Minister wishes to fill all vacancies available at all health departments, clinics and hospitals starting upwards from the village level. The construction for 16 new government medical colleges is underway for which the Chief Minister asked officials to complete it on priority. 

So far the state has 20,464 oxygen concentrators and 27,311 oxygen cylinders that are readily available. The officials added that 104 cylinders will be added by the end of August and 16 more by the end of September.

On the vaccination front, 1,82,00,284 people have been vaccinated out of which 66,01,563 people have been administered with the second dose. The Chief Minister advised officials to appoint volunteers and ward members to identify COVID-19 suspects through door-to-door visits. These volunteers can also identify other ailments, and illnesses, and provide treatments.