Allaying the fears over COVID-19, Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has said that the State government has been taking all preventive measures to deal with the coronavirus.
Addressing mediapersons after the postponement of local body polls at his camp office near here on Sunday, Mr. Jagan said that the government was taking measures to prevent it, like any other disease. Two labs had been set up for testing, in Tirupati and Vijayawada, and another would come up in Kakinada. A 200-bedded hospital at Visakhapatnam, a 100-bedded hospital at the Eastern Naval Command and isolation wards were kept ready as part of preparedness plans. It was going to be a continuous process, he said.
Deportees
Very soon, people of Andhra Pradesh living in other countries, particularly Middle East, might be deported as those countries might not be willing to provide healthcare for them. In such cases, the government would carry out the necessary procedures like screening at airports, and home quarantine for people returning from coronavirus-affected countries.
There would be regular monitoring, and care would be provided for those who showed symptoms. In cases where it was required, they would be moved to isolation wards. Currently, facilities to isolate persons returning from abroad were available only in Visakhapatnam. Quarantine facilities were less in Vijayawada but the number of persons returning from abroad to the place were also less, he said.
Risk groups
The disease mainly affected people above 60 years and those suffering from kidney and liver problems, diabetes, hypertension etc. The mortality rate around the world had been very low. Experience across the globe showed that only 4.7% of the cases turned critical while 80.9% of corona-positive cases were cured with mere home isolation. “There is no need to press the panic button. The coronavirus can be treated with paracetamol,” he said.
Out of 70 samples sent from Andhra Pradesh, there was only one positive case. The government had conducted a door-to-door survey within 1 km radius of the house in Nellore where the positive case was reported. More than 20,000 houses were covered. The volunteers were visiting every house to create awareness among the public, he said.