Andhra Pradesh govt sets up Covid-19 task force

Andhra Pradesh government has constituted a five-member task-force to monitor the spread of coronavirus in the state.

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], Mar 28 : Andhra Pradesh government has constituted a five-member task-force to monitor the spread of coronavirus in the state.

The committee formed on Friday comprises of State Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Botcha Satyanarayana, Agriculture Minister Kurasala Kannababu, State Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath and State home minister Mekathoti Sucharitha.

"428 samples of people have been sent for testing. Of them, 378 are tested negative and 13 have tested positive and 37 are pending. As many as 29,264 foreign returnees are in the state. Of the 29,115 are in-home quarantine and 149 are in hospital quarantine," Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna told reporters here along with other members of the committee.

The Health Minister made an appeal to the people of the state who are in other states to stay wherever they are. "If they want to come to the home state, they must be in 14 days quarantine," he added.

Urban Development Minister Botcha Satyanarayana said the effect of COVID 19 is much higher in urban areas than in rural areas in Andhra Pradesh. So the Chief Minister has ordered to focus much on urban areas and further ordered to arrange one doctor for every 10 foreign returnees.

"For this, the urban development and health departments will work together," he added.

The minister assured the public that all essential commodities and groceries are adequately available so they need not pc.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy held a review meeting to monitor the steps being taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

He also discussed reducing the relaxation time for the markets that are allowed to remain open from 6 am to 1 pm.

( With inputs from ANI )