Andhra Pradesh government on Monday relaxed Covid-19 curfew restrictions across all the 13 districts from 6 am to 10 pm, where all commercial establishments will be shut down by 9 pm and curfew restrictions will begin from 10 pm.
During the Covid review meeting chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, it was decided to relax the curfew timings as the daily positivity rate has come down to less than five per cent and further made it mandatory for every individual to wear face masks, and a fine of Rs 100 will be imposed for not wearing masks in public places.
If any shops and establishments violate the guidelines, they will be asked to close down for 2-3 days.
The Chief Minister also instructed the authorities to impose fines based on the photographs and asked to set up a WhatsApp number for sending photos of violators of Covid normal.
The Chief Minister directed the officials to enforce Section 144 across the State to contain the spread of Covid-19, by restricting the mass gatherings. The CM said a physical distance of five feet between individuals should be maintained in all public places and establishments and besides wearing masks, hand sanitisation is mandatory for all staff and the general public. The additional guidelines will be issued by the Medical and Health Department.
Regarding testing, he instructed the authorities to conduct tests in a focussed manner, only to those who have a fever and other symptoms and if tested positive, they should receive proper medical services. Similarly, concerning the oxygen supply, the Chief Minister directed the officials to complete the establishment of oxygen generation plants. The authorities explained the work in progress at 134 oxygen generation plants at 97 locations and assured them to get them complete by the end of August.
Further, Reddy instructed the officials to focus on vaccination for teachers and complete it before the reopening of schools.
The Chief Minister directed the officials to vaccinate both government and private school teachers and based on the availability of the vaccine, he told them to consider vaccinating graduation students by organising vaccination camps in those colleges.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also directed the authorities to be vigilant towards non-Covid diseases and be prepared to that extent in the wake of the onset of the monsoon season.
He said that there is a possibility of an increase in snake bites, which are more prevalent in Machilipatnam and Avanigadda regions and told to equip all the PHCs with required medicines. As diseases like dengue are likely to spread during the monsoon season, he instructed the authorities to arrange all the required medicines at the PHC level and ensure that those drugs meet WHO and GMP standards. He also ordered to focus on the Nadu-Nadu initiative and complete the pending works.
The CM also directed the authorities to brace up for the possible third wave. Since studies are showing that children would be affected in the third wave, officials were instructed to be prepared with a good action plan, especially considering the treatment for children.
The officials informed the Chief Minister that there were 28,680 active cases at present and 5,695 patients are being treated in hospitals and 4,976 people are being treated in Covid care centres.
The officials added that the recovery rate has increased to 97.83 per cent and the positivity rate has decreased to 2.91 per cent. They said the positivity rate is less than three per cent in seven districts and almost 92.91 per cent of patients in network hospitals are being treated under the Aarogyasri scheme. The authorities stated that 3,876 black fungus cases were registered till the date of which 324 persons died and 2,500 were discharged.
Regarding vaccination, so far 1,31,43,873 people have been vaccinated, where 96,83,544 have got single-dose vaccination and 34,60,329 have completed the two-dose vaccination.
Deputy Chief Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas (Nani), Minister Botsa Satyanarayana, Chief Secretary Adityanath Das, DGP Gautam Sawang, Covid Command and Control Chairman Dr KS Jawahar Reddy, Health Principal Secretary Anil Kumar Singhal, Health Secretary M Ravi Chandra, Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar, 104 call centre in-charge A Babu, Aarogyasri CEO Dr A Mallikarjuna, APMSIDC VC and MD Vijayarama Raju and other officials were present.
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