VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed officials to take measures for resuming normal life in the State while continuing the steps to check the spread of coronavirus. Taking stock of the Covid-19 situation in the State with officials on Saturday, the Chief Minister directed them to prepare Standard Operating Protocols (SOPs) for safety measures to be taken against the spread of COVID-19 after the lockdown is lifted. He said shopkeepers should ensure that social distance was maintained at their shops, by drawing circles in queue lines.
Official were also asked to prepare SOPs for buses, restaurants, malls so that can resume their services in a phased manner. The Chief Minister stressed the need to bring about a change in the mindset of people on coronavirus and said awareness needs to be brought to see that those infected with COVID-19 are not stigmatised. “It is the most important thing that needs to be done now,” he said and asked the officials to initiate measures to ally fears of the people on coronavirus.
He said the situation in the State should be such that people, if they have COVID-19 symptoms, are able to voluntarily come forward to have themselves tested and treated without any inhibitions. “People should be made aware that infected by coronavirus is not a sin or crime,” Jagan stressed. Officials were asked to bring out a pamphlet to educate people on how to identify COVID-19 symptoms, whom to contact and how to contact for testing and treatment and they were asked to develop a mechanism for the same. Only by such efforts, the spread of coronavirus can be contained, he said. The Chief Minister was informed that the number of active cases was on the decline with a number of discharged from the hospitals increasing day by day. They also informed that testing capacity in Krishna and Kurnool district was being enhanced.
858 active cases now
The COVID-19 count in the State increased to 2,355 with another 48 new cases reported in the last 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday. A total of 9,628 samples were tested in the 24 hours. With one more casualty reported in Kurnool district, the toll increased to 49. From Friday morning till Saturday evening, 196 patients were discharged, taking the cumulative recoveries to 1,448.Among the 196 discharged till Saturday evening, Kurnool district accounted for 62, Anantapur 37, Krishna 85, East Godavari 3, Prakasam 3, West Godavari 3, Kadapa 2 and Visakhapatnam 1.
Among the 48 new cases reported, 31 were linked Koyambedu Market in Chennai. Among them, nine each are from Kurnool and Nellore, eight from Chittoor, two from Visakhapatnam, one each from Guntur, Kadapa and West Godavari districts. Kurnool district crossed 600-mark with the addition of nine new cases. Nine new cases each in Guntur and Nellore took the tally in those districts to 413 and 149 respectively. Chittoor tally increased to 173 with eight new cases and Krishna district with 7 new cases now has a total of 367 cases. Another four new cases in Visakhapatnam took the tally in the district to 72. One case each in West Godavari district and Kadapa district took the tally in those districts to 70 and 102 respectively.