Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy held a review meeting Monday on the prevailing COVID-19 situation, measures to treat infants and children in the “third wave” and the establishment of health centers at the district headquarters.
Officials told the prime minister that the number of cases in the state had dropped significantly in the previous week (June 6-12). The case-positive rate had dropped to 6.58% from 25.56% on May 16. The positive rate in all districts was below 17.5%. The positivity rate was below nine percent in seven districts and between 10 and 19% in six districts (Chittoor, Anantapur, Prakasam, Krishna, East Godavari and West Godavari).
They said active cases fell to 85,637 and the recovery rate rose to 94.61%. As of April 15, five lakh calls and 6,41,094 outbound calls were made to 104 call centers.
Officials said that as of June 14, 2,303 black fungus cases had been recorded, of which 157 were dead. They said they had published a GO, as instructed by the prime minister, to aid the families of health ministry workers who succumbed to COVID-19.
The chief minister directed the officials to ensure they receive financial assistance soon. He urged officials to also plan financial assistance for health workers at private hospitals who treated COVID-19 patients who succumbed to the virus.
Child health infra
The officials briefed the prime minister about treatment options for children in state hospitals. They planned to increase the ICU beds to 1,600 and the oxygen beds to 3,777 for children and to hire pediatricians, nurses and other support staff, they said.
The chief minister instructed them to complete the recruiting in a month and said the officers should be prepared for any emergencies. He wanted them to train nurses and staff in dealing with pediatric problems.
Faced with lung and kidney problems in children after COVID-19, the prime minister said they should be treated under the Arogyasri. The rates under the Arogyasri program should be set realistically so that hospitals don’t suffer, he said.
Health centers
The Prime Minister proposed building health centers near residential areas and ensuring that hospitals are set up in all directions in cities. He said the main goal of the health centers is to provide modern treatments and facilities from hospitals with multiple specialties such as those in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad in the state. He said that the districts should become self-sufficient in providing treatment facilities through these health centers and wanted guidelines on this to be drawn up within two weeks.