VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government Monday decided to act tough against violators of Covid19 norms. It decided to enforce Covid Appropriate Behaviour among the public by strictly implementing measures such as the imposition of a fine of Rs 100 on those who do not wear a mask in public places. A decision to this effect was taken at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. It was decided to impose night curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in all districts. Till now, only 11 of the 13 districts had been given curfew relaxation from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
East and West Godavari had curfew relaxation hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. “The decision to have a uniform curfew relaxation has been taken as positivity rate is below five per cent in all the districts,” the Chief Minister said. All the commercial establishments will, however, have to down the shutters by 9 p.m. Jagan made it clear that wearing masks should be made mandatory and if any business establishment was found with unmasked people, hefty fines must be imposed on the management. “If necessary, issue orders for closure of shops, which do not enforce the mandatory mask rule, for 2-3 days,’’ the Chief Minister advised the officials. Further, it was decided to impose fines based on photographic evidence. Those caught on camera violating Covid norms will be fined.
Brace up for possible third wave and prepare good action plan, says Jagan
Police department was directed to set up a separate WhatsApp number to receive such complaints and alerts. The Chief Minister directed the police officials to ensure Section 144 (prohibiting the gathering of more than five people at a public place) is enforced strictly and not allow people to crowd, especially at markets. Market committees have been instructed to ensure their staff and people visiting markets wear masks. Jagan also stressed on focused sample testing and for this, he asked the officials to conduct a fever survey. “Only those with fever and other symptoms of Covid should be tested and given medication,’’ he said and asked the health officials to keep a close watch on the number of cases and take measures to check the same. He instructed the officials to focus on vaccination for teachers and complete it before the reopening of schools.
“Vaccinate both government and private school teachers and based on the availability of the vaccine, degree students should also be vaccinated by organising special vaccination camps in colleges,’’ Jagan said. Cautioning the officials to be vigilant towards non-Covid ailments as well, as the rainy season has set in, the Chief Minister said measures should be taken to tackle them from the PHC to teaching hospital level. Officials were asked to review the situation PHC-wise. He pointed out that there is a possibility of an increase in snake bites, which are more common in Machilipatnam and Avanigadda regions, and told them to equip all the PHCs with required medicines.
Exhorting the authorities to brace up for a possible third Covid wave, since studies are showing that children would be affected in the third wave, Jagan advised them to be prepared with a good action plan. According to them, the active caseload in the state as on date is 28,680 with 2.91 per cent positivity rate. There are seven districts, which have less than 3 per cent positivity rate. At present 5,695 patients are being treated in hospitals and 4,976 are being treated in COVID care centers. Recovery rate improved to 97.83 per cent and almost 92.91 per cent of Covid patients in network hospitals are being treated under Aarogyasri scheme. The authorities said 3,876 black fungus cases were registered till date and of them, 324 had died while 2,500 were discharged.
No Mask, No Entry, No Ride, No Sale!
The Krishna district administration decided to enforce ‘No Mask-No Entry’ every Monday, ‘No Mask-No Ride’ on Tuesday and ‘No Mask- No Sale’ on Wednesday. This initiative would be implemented till September. ‘No Mask - No Entry’ norm would be enforced at all government and private offices and commercial spaces. ‘No Mask- No Ride’ is a must for motorists. On Wednesday, ‘No Mask-No Sale’ will be enforced.