Government revives Covid command and control centre

VIJAYAWADA: In the wake of surging Covid-19 cases, the state government on Thursday revived the State COVID Command and Control Centre with 21 All India Services (AIS) officers, to take necessary steps for Covid-19 management and vaccination on a daily basis. One senior officer was deputed to each of the 13 districts for monitoring and guiding the district administrations in taking the necessary steps for Covid-19 management and vaccination.

Chief Secretary Aditya Nath Das, in an order issued on Thursday, said, “In view of the increase in Covid cases in states like Maharastra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, it is important that proactive and effective steps be taken by the Andhra Pradesh government too. With the Covid-19 pandemic being dynamic in nature, the State COVID Command and Control Centre was revived to take appropriate measures to handle the evolving situation in the State.”

Principal secretary (Transport) MT Krishna Babu was assigned with the task of monitoring quality food supply and sanitation in Covid hospitals and care centres. Principal secretary (Covid management and vaccination) M Ravi Chandra will be monitoring primary contact tracing and testing. IPS officers Abhishek Mohanty, Group Commander (Admin)-Grey Hounds, and Dr Koya Praveen, SP, Police Transport Organisation, will be looking after the complaints on private hospitals, particularly for overcharging.

Ten IAS officers of 2019 batch were assigned on ‘104’ call centre duty. While assigning one senior officer to each districts, the government asked them to report at their allotted districts immediately, and attend the meeting over video link of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy with all district collectors on Friday.