NE NEWS SERVICE
AMARAVATI, MAY 16
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the officials to come up with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to prevent, containing and minimizing the spread of coronavirus, especially in the crowded spaces in tune with the lockdown guidelines besides creating awareness on safety measures while instilling confidence in migrant labour.
Briefing the COVID-19 situation across the State, officials informed the Chief Minister that the number of recoveries is gradually increasing, and 101 cases have been discharged in the last 24 hours.
On Friday, 48 new cases have been recorded and 31 of them are with Koyambedu links. The officials said that the testing capacity in Kurnool and Krishna districts will be increased further. The Chief Minister also discussed the exit plan to be implemented for controlling the spread of the virus.
He asked the officials to prepare a SOP with the measures to be taken to contain the spread of Corona, social distancing and other general measures.
The Chief Minister has stressed the need for allying fears of the public towards COVID-19 and ensure that there is no stigma attached to the disease.
He directed the officials to create awareness among people and encourage them to voluntarily come forward for testing without any fear.
He asked the officials to distribute pamphlets to every house and educate them on coming forward with confidence rather than avoiding it.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy took a serious note on the plight of the migrant workers walking barefoot in the scorching summer. In regard to this, he directed the officials to be kind and generous towards them and provide proper food supplies along with transportation facilities for them. He instructed the officials to plan accordingly for operating buses to transport migrant labourers back to their native places.
Besides COVID-19 situation, the Chief Minister further discussed the aspects of Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) and marketing strategies with the officials.
Minister for Medical and Health Alla Kali Krishna, Minister for Agriculture K Kannababu, Chief Secretary Neelam Sawhney, DGP Gowtham Sawang, Special Chief Secretary KS Jawahar Reddy were present.
Fourth phase of ration distribution begins
The fourth phase of ration supply to 1.48 crore rice cardholders has begun on Saturday on a time slot basis, where each consumer was provided with a time slot coupon for collecting their ration supplies by maintaining physical distance.
As announced, each cardholder has been provided five kg rice and one kg chickpeas through 28,354 ration counters and nearly 22,19,125 families received their ration supplies on the first day.
The State government has taken the initiative to supply essentials for all the ration card holders multiple times in the ongoing lockdown period and added additional ration counters to avoid the rush. So far, three phases of distribution have been completed and the fourth phase of distribution has started on Saturday. In addition to the existing 1,47,24,017 families, nearly 81,862 families who have applied freshly are also being provided with ration supplies.
In the fourth phase, the total 30,996.533 metric tonnes of rice and 1,664.344 metric tonnes of chickpeas have been distributed across 1.48 crore families. As of today, 22,19,125 families have received their supplies through portability. For the first time ever, the distribution started as early as 6 am.
Going by the directions of the State government, ration dealers have taken all the precautionary measures in the distribution of ration by placing sanitizers, hand wash, and water at the ration shops to avoid the spread of Coronavirus. On the basis of time slots and by maintaining physical distance, the ration supplies were provided to the beneficiaries.
