VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy held a high-level meeting on Covid-19 situation in the State on Monday and announced a slew of measures, including suspension of classes for I to IX students from Tuesday, apart from directing the official machinery to act tough on Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) violators.
According to an official release, the government decided not just to close schools but also hostels and coaching centres for class I to IX students in view of spike in Covid cases. While announcing that SSC and Intermediate examinations will be held as per schedule, strictly adhering to Covid protocol, Jagan instructed officials to continue college hostels till the end of exams only.
Apart from imposing a fine of Rs 100 on people who do not wear face mask in public places, it was decided to ensure physical distance in cinema halls, function halls and hotels. “At functions held in convention centres, there should be 6 feet distance between two seats and alternative seating arrangement should be made in theatres,’’ Jagan said.
Officials were asked to give wide publicity to 104 call centre, which is meant to provide details pertaining to Covid-19 testing and treatment. Laying emphasis on hospital preparedness, availability of medical facilities, doctors and proper sanitation, the Chief Minister said all the primary contacts of those tested positive should be tested. People suffering from fever or having such symptoms should also be tested with the help of village/ward volunteers.
The officials should focus on oxygen generation plants and see that the State gets its due share from the oxygen generated from the plant in Visakhapatnam. “If needed, focus on setting up of more oxygen plants,’’ the Chief Minister said.
‘State has sufficient stock of oxygen’
The officials informed him that the government had made agreements to ensure supply of 310 tonnes of oxygen per day. As of today, there are 26,456 oxygen equipped beds in 146 hospitals and if all the beds are occupied, the State will require 347 kilo litres of oxygen. As regards to storage capacity of oxygen, the State at present has 577 KL capacity, which is sufficient for all hospital for 36 hours.
As a few more Secretariat employees tested positive for Covid, other staff urged the government to allow them to work from home. Announcing the decision to close schools for students of class I to IX from Tuesday after the review meeting, Minister for Education Audimulapu Suresh told mediapersons that the decision was taken to ensure that children do not contract the virus. As the academic year is now deemed completed for these classes, there will be no annual exams. “SSC exams will be held in June as scheduled. Similarly, there is no change in the schedule of Intermediate exams to be held from May 5. Ongoing Intermediate practical exams will end by April 24,” he explained.
He said since there will be no classes for I to IX, conducting classes for X students will not pose any problem. When pointed out that the CBSE and SSC exams in neighbouring Telangana were cancelled, Suresh stated that the government does not want students to lose out on an academic year. “
Last year, when the exams were cancelled, students had suffered while attending Army recruitment rallies. Their applications were rejected on the ground that they do not have grades in the qualifying exam. We decided to conduct the exams after much thought and also considering the request to hold exams by various associations,” he said. With regard to introduction of CBSE syllabus in schools, he said the Chief Minister is keen on introducing CBSE pattern in State schools. The government will come up with more details after signing MoUs with NCERT, CBSE, he added.
FOCUS ON STRICT ENFORCEMENT OF CAB