AP CM to DCs: Set Up Oxygen War Rooms With SOS Service in All Districts

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy held a review meeting on the COVID situation in the state after the Tirupati incident. Expressing grief over the incident, he said that the government was making all efforts to ease people's burdens during this crisis.

Further, the Chief Minister said that better medical services are being provided in the State like nowhere else in the country despite not having Tier-1 cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai. Even the death rate in Andhra Pradesh is much better compared to most states.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials to take responsibility for the RUIA Hospital incident and pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs to the families of the deceased. He also directed the officials to work with more humanity. He said that the government had spent over Rs 87,000 crore in the last 22 months, by crediting directly into the beneficiaries' bank accounts without any corruption or discrimination. Would such a government be reluctant to give vaccines at a cost of Rs 1600 crore?

104 Call Centre

He said District Collectors should own104 call centers and ensure effective functioning of these centers. 104 number should be registered in the minds of people as a one-stop solution for all issues related to COVID. Beds should be set up to provide patients within three hours of calling the 104-call center, he said, adding that the 104-call center receives between 16000 and 17000 calls per day.

Covid Hospitals-Beds

He said collectors have identified a total of 648 hospitals that were empaneled in the State for the treatment of COVID with a bed capacity of 47947 beds in which 41315 beds are occupied and added that treatment in those hospitals is completely free and medications should also be given for free. He directed the officials to arrange temporary German hangars on the hospital premises to eliminate the waiting conditions.

Oxygen Supply

The Chief Minister directed the authorities to focus on the purchase of oxygen concentrators, which would be made available in all Covid Care Centres. He told the officials to monitor Oxygen pipelines in hospitals and to hire technical staff, ensuring that Oxygen flow is at the correct pressure according to specified criteria. He also told to consider setting up pressure boosters in the ICU. Besides these, three officials were given responsibility for fetching oxygen from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha.

Responsibility to JCs

He said the Joint Collector (Village/Ward Secretariats, development) should completely focus on tackling Covid in the districts. The Joint Collector should ensure good sanitation facilities, quality food supply, availability of doctors and paramedical staff, setting up of help desks, etc. They should monitor the performance of Arogya Mitras through CCTV cameras. They should coordinate with the call centre and ensure all work is done on time.

More Responsibilities

He instructed the district collectors to take more responsibilities and to set up Oxygen war rooms in the districts along with SOS service, where immediate action should be taken when an emergency message arrives. The Chief Minister thanked Navy officials for cooperating and providing emergency services.

Private hospitals

He said fifty percent of beds should be allocated to Arogyasri patients in temporary empaneled hospitals and also in non-empaneled hospitals notified by district authorities. He told the officials to monitor whether the medications are being received regularly or not and are Remdesivir injections available or not and see that there are no lapses.

Nodal Officers

The officials were told to appoint one Nodal Officer for every 2–3 hospitals covering all 648 hospitals. Health Nodal Officers should focus on Oxygen Supply, Hospital Performance, Sanitation, Food Quality, where the Flying Squad should carry out regular inspections.

Curfew

The Chief Minister said that the government had already imposed a curfew, permitting people to do their chores from 6 am to 12 noon. He also directed officials to ensure a strict curfew is being imposed right after 12 pm. He urged people to take precautionary measures by wearing masks, staying indoors, and maintaining social distance.

Be strict on rumors

The Chief Minister directed the officials to take strict action against anyone who spreads rumors, creating panic among people. He said that people should know that free vaccines would be provided by the State government.

Deputy Chief Minister Alla Krishna Srinivas, Ministers Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Botsa Satyanarayana, Chief Secretary Adityanath Das, DGP Goutam Sawang, Chief Commissioner Land Administration Neerab Kumar Prasad, Agriculture Special Chief Secretary Poonam Malakondaiah, Covid command control chairman Dr. KS Jawahar Reddy, Municipal Administration Special Chief Secretary Y Srilakshmi, Panchayat Raj Commissioner Girija Shankar, Health Principal Secretary Anil Kumar Singhal, Women, and Child Welfare Principal Secretary Anuradha and other officials were present.