Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy revealed on Wednesday that the state’s Covid-19 testing capacity means they can do up to 4,000 tests per day instead of just 2,100.
During the reviews meeting with officials on the subject of the coronavirus pandemic, the CM said that tests have been done using TrueNat TB testing equipment.
He instructed officials to conduct tests of all 32,000 people who were identified in the recent door-to-door survey.
He also sought details on the facilities being provided at quarantine centers and ordered officials to provide Rs 2,000 financial assistance to people returning home from quarantine centers, aside from performing weekly tests.
Officials said that Rs 500 is being spent on every person for their food, bed and blanket, Rs 50 for sanitation purpose and Rs 300 on transportation. A single or double room is being provided to members in quarantine and they are being sent home after only after required protocols are followed.
The CM instructed officials to forward the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to lower authorities and ensure that medical safety equipment is being supplied to frontline workers and emergency staff.
He further added that priority should be given to monitoring the prices of essential goods.
Meanwhile, the government also planning to set up an additional 471 temporary Rythu Bazars and counting apart from the existing 100 Rythu Bazar. It increases the availability of essentials in abundance to citizens in every corner of the state.
The district committee is fixing prices of rice, four varieties of dals, three variants of edible oils and some vegetables. The rates are displayed across the state for the benefit of the consumers, the government said in a statement.
A special helpline number 1902 has also been set up for citizens to report any price discrepancies, it said.
Besides, the government has converted 451 Andhra Pradesh State Road Transportation Corporation (APSRTC) buses into 'Mobile Rythu Bazars' for selling a wide range of commodities straight from the farm.
The state agriculture marketing department has also scaled up door delivery of services and about 25 per cent of the produce is being sold through this system.
With banana farmers facing problems in selling their produce, the state government is directly procuring the fruit from farmers and selling to consumers at nominal rates.
The state government has procured 7,000 tonne of bananas so far. It may be noted that bananas are being sold at Rs 10/kg, much lower than Rs 70 per kg in supermarkets across the state, the statement added.
For smooth procurement of rabi (winter) crops, the state government said it has set up 700 centres near farm fields for procuring jowar, red gram, bengal gram, maize and turmeric.
(With PTI inputs)
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