VIJAYAWADA: The state government will give Rs 15,000 to the kin of COVID-19 victims to perform their last rites. This was announced by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday after he and Health department officials discussed the obstacles faced in cremating victims' bodies.
The Chief Minister also said hospitals that refuse to treat COVID-19 patients will face action, and could lose their recognition and permission to operate.As for quarantine centres, he said proper sanitation and food must be ensured, and officials must conduct a special drive over the next week to assess the situation.
"Officials are responsible for ensuring high standards at Covid Care Centres and quarantine centres, and can make changes in this regard," he said, and advised them to put up hoardings at these centres with the call centre numbers so people can lodge complaints.
Besides this, the officials were told to call each Covid Care Centre, quarantine centre and hospital for feedback. "Three calls should be made every day at random to address the issues raised," he said. Underlining the need for quality services at hospitals, COVID Care Centres and quarantine centres, Jagan asserted that the fight against coronavirus would be a long-term one.
At Covid hospitals, good-quality services must be offered, GMP-standard medicines given, and facilities improved in anticipation of future needs, he said.Emphasising the need for permanent Covid-19 testing centres, Jagan told the officials to raise awareness on where these centres are located and what one should do if they have symptoms of the disease. He said hoardings with such information should be put up at strategic locations.
The Chief Minister further said there should be a Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) for testing, and people should be made aware of the different categories of people who should be tested.
The officials informed the Chief Minister about the use of special buses for contact tracing and testing in containment zones, and about how even people in the high-risk category are being tested on those buses. They said even if the test result returns negative for coronavirus but the X-ray suggests otherwise, the patient is treated as an infectee.
They added that a delay in admitting infectees to hospitals is leading to deaths and said efforts are on to reduce the death rate. Jagan told the officials to also take steps to contain the spread of the virus and keep the future requirements in mind. He also enquired about the action plan prepared by the officials and directed them to increase the salaries of those rendering services during the crisis.
The officials said they have prepared contingency plans to avail the services of doctors and paramedics on a need basis, and have prepared a database of 17,000 doctors and 12,000 nurses. The Chief Minister okayed the action plan in that regard.
Deputy Chief Minister (Health) Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, DGP Gautam Sawang, Special Chief Secretary (Health ) KS Jawahar Reddy and other officials attended the meeting.