Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has directed the officials concerned to give special attention to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation area in the steps taken for containing the spread of coronavirus as the incidence of the positive cases was more in the GHMC limits.
The Chief Minister held a review meeting on the prevailing situation with senior officials on Monday. The State registered 32 new COVID positive cases and one death during the day. The officials informed the Chief Minister that in the backdrop of increasing number of positive cases, steps had been initiated to ensure that laboratories and hospitals were prepared to handle the patients.
He wanted special strategy to be chalked out as far as GHMC area was concerned as there was scope for spread of the virus in view of the increasing number of positive cases. Each of the 17 circles spread across the GHMC should be considered as individual units and medical officers drawn from the Health, Municipal Administration, Revenue, Home and other departments should be exclusively appointed to look into their affairs.
The officials should divide the GHMC into different zones and appoint special officers to each of these zones considering them as units. The containment efforts should be enforced with more vigour in the areas where positive cases have been reported. The officials as well as people should be more cautious in the light of increasing number of COVID positive cases while the Health department should be geared up to tackle any emergency.
Facilities had been put in place to conduct tests to 1,000 to 1,100 patients daily and infrastructure had been created to tackle the increasing number of patients coming to hospitals. Mr. Rao reviewed the steps that were being taken to check the spread of the virus in Hyderabad as well as in the districts besides enquiring about the progress of paddy procurement at different places.
“There is one DM&HO currently looking after the entire city affairs at present. Steps should be taken to appoint officials to each of the 17 circles. The Municipal staff should be focused on the steps to check the spread of the virus,” he said. The government had set up 246 containment zones across the State including 126 in Hyderabad alone and steps should be taken to effectively implement the lockdown measures in these areas.
Officials should sensitise people not to come out of their homes during the lockdown period and at the same time, not allow outsiders to enter these containment zones. Nodal officers should be appointed to each of these containment zones and there should be stringent enforcement of lockdown in these areas. Steps should be taken to supply essential commodities to the residents of these containment zones.
Mr. Rao wanted the officials to take a serious view of the areas where the crowds were more as these were the places contributing to positive cases. The Municipal Administration department should organise review meetings circle-wise on a daily basis in Pragati Bhavan and take necessary steps to prevent the spread of the virus, he added.
