While appreciating the officials for bringing down the number of COVID-19 cases and the positivity rate substantially, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday cautioned them against lowering the guard.
“The pandemic is not expected to reach zero level in the foreseeable future. We should adhere to the COVID-19 protocols. People should be vaccinated on a mission mode to give them maximum possible protection,” Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said while addressing the District Collectors and Superintendents of Police on the Spandana programme through a video-conference.
Thrust on testing
“Hand sanitising, wearing face masks, and keeping physical distance should become a part of our lives as COVID-19 is here to stay for a long time,” he said, and called for greater emphasis on testing and fever survey.
Calling for conducting only Rt-PCR test for achieving good result, he instructed the Collectors to ensure that the patients were not exploited by the private hospitals. “Do not hesitate to shut down the hospitals flouting norms repeatedly,” Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
Third wave
He also directed the authorities to be prepared to face the anticipated third wave of the pandemic amidst fears that it might affect children.
He said three state-of-the-art hospitals would be set up for paediatric treatment in Visakhapatnam, Krishna-Guntur area and Tirupati, and directed the Collectors to identify lands for the facilities.
The Chief Minister said that the production of vaccines in the country was very low, and there was a need to ramp it up urgently. While a total of 3.50 crore people were targeted to be vaccinated, only 26,33,351 received two doses so far. About 6,90,710 got only the first dose, he observed.
E-cropping
Dwelling on other issues, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy called for a renewed thrust on e-cropping booking. He asked the Collectors and Joint Collectors to monitor at least 10% of it and give receipts to the farmers along with digital acknowledgement as it was on that basis that input subsidy and crop insurance would be provided.
He insisted that quality seed be provided to the farmers through the Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) and steps taken to curb black marketing of farm inputs.
There should be no hindrance to agriculture and allied activities during the curfew, he said, and suggested that banking services be brought down to the RBK level.
Housing
On housing, he instructed the officials to complete the construction of 15.6 lakh houses in the first phase and provide basic amenities in the colonies first.
Financial assistance under YSR Cheyutha and YSR Bima would be disbursed on June 22 and July 1 followed by Vidya Deevena and Kapu Nestham, he added.