Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao on Monday said the government had launched joint and coordinated efforts with private medical colleges and universities in Puducherry to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the Union Territory.
Talking to newsmen at the end of a review meeting with officials of Health and other line departments here, the Minister said that although there had not been any reports of suspected cases in the Union Territory, the Health department was on high alert.
The government had intensified surveillance on the inter-state borders and details of foreigners staying in private guest houses were being collected. The territorial government had allocated ₹7.5 crore in the first phase to enable the Health department to procure equipment to control the spread of the virus.
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Door-to-door campaign
He said that nearly 400 beds had been readied in the Puducherry Government General Hospital and also in private hospitals to meet any exigency. Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) had been roped in to conduct door-to-door awareness among the people from Tuesday.
Mr. Rao said that Telangana and Andhra Pradesh had declared holiday for all educational institutions. The government could do the same while exempting only those classes having public examinations from holidays. A decision would be taken in consultation with the Chief Minister, he said.
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He said the Tourism Department could temporarily suspend its campaign of “Peaceful Puducherry” to attract tourists from across the country and abroad in the wake of COVID-19. “There is every need to prevent flow of large number of tourists into Puducherry,” he said.