The State Government has appointed IAS officer A.V. Rajamouli as Special Officer, Hospital Preparedness and Ex-Officio Secretary to the Government to ensure effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure healthy conditions in quarantine centres, COVID Care Centres (CCCs) and District/State COVID-19 Hospitals.
Mr. Rajamouli has been attached to the Health, Medical and Family Welfare (HMFW) Department, exclusively to monitor the arrangements of all State/District COVID-19 Hospitals.
At a press conference on Friday, Principal Secretary, Department of Transport and R&B and State Coordinator for COVID-19 Task Force, M. T. Krishna Babu, said that he was appointed as the Nodal Officer, the State Control Centre, to monitor the non-medical requirements/facilities, sanitation, food, supply of medicines and other facilities at the quarantine centres and CCCs, in coordination with a team of officers from the HMFW Department.
The Managing Director and CEO of the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) Arja Srikanth would be responsible for the monitoring facilities while Special Commissioner, Disaster Management, K. Kanna Babu, will monitor people coming to the State from other States using different modes of travel and ensure that their details are captured in Spandana portal.
Mr. Krishna Babu said that a detailed review meeting was held with Collectors and Joint Collectors and the latter were asked to focus on improving facilities at the quarantine centres.
Helpline set up
He said that at the behest of the Chief Minister, a dedicated phone number — 1902 — was being made available to people who had any grievances relating to the facilities at the quarantine centres and the CCCs. People involved in running these centers had been asked to exhibit the menus of breakfast, lunch and dinner served to the inmates, prominently.
Mr. Krishna Babu said that as on date, 20 active CCCs and 94 quarantine centres were functioning with an inmate strength of 3,071 and 6,727 people respectively. He said that the Chief Minister wanted a complete overhaul of sanitation, food supply and medical facilities at these centres in the next three days.
Officials have been asked to call at least six inmates from the quarantine centres/CCCs for their feedback on the facilities and alert the district Collectors for follow-up action. He said that those found to be resorting to dereliction of duty would be dealt with stringently.
