Jagan announces Rs. 1,000 crore COVID care package for Andhra

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy, on 24 July, announced that the state was allocating Rs. 1,000 crore for COVID care. The amount will be spent in the next six months to develop medical infrastructure and treat COVID-19 patients in the state.

“In the next six months, medical staff, including doctors and paramedics, will be recruited in large numbers to provide quality treatment to coronavirus patients,” Jagan said. The state has been spending Rs. 6.5 crore per day on conducting tests, maintaining quarantine facilities, and on medicine and other amenities.

During a review meeting on Friday, he said, “Patients with serious symptoms will be administered Remdesivir and Tocilizumab anti-viral drugs which cost Rs. 35, 000 per course. But we will not cut back on the expenditure.” There are 138 COVID hospitals, including 54 new hospitals, in the state and 39,051 beds.

The Chief Minister also announced that five more COVID hospitals will come up in the state. He said three hospitals are already ready to treat patients and two more will be ready soon. Also, 2,380 beds for critical care are available.

Andhra Pradesh has 138 hospitals - 12 in Srikakulam district, seven in Vizianagaram, 22 in Visakhapatnam, six in East Godavari, nine in West Godavari, 13 in Krishna district, 11 in Guntur, and nine in Prakasam. Meanwhile, Nellore has seven hospitals, Chittoor has 12, and Ananthapur 16. There are six hospitals in Kadapa and seven in Kurnool. In total, the state has 72,711 beds in various COVID care centres.

Jagan claimed that the state has been screening 58,000 patients for tests per day. High-risk groups are being screened which is why Andhra is reporting more cases, he said, adding nearly 90 per cent of the tests are positive. Jagan asked people not to worry about the high positivity rate. As it reaches a peak, it is bound to slide, the CM added.

On Friday, Andhra Pradesh recorded 8,147 new cases and 19 COVID-19 deaths.