Andhra Pradesh government would be providing Rs 15,000 for conducting the last rites of patients dying due to COVID-19 if nobody comes forward to perform the last rites, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said on Tuesday.
"Bring awareness among the public to ensure people do not treat COVID-19 infected as untouchables. There will be no virus in the dead bodies of the COVID-19 after a few hours and the family members or relatives can perform the last rites. The government will perform the last rites of the deceased if nobody comes forward and Rs 15,000 will be given for the same," YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said while reviewing Spandana meeting.
He emphasized on allotting beds to the patients within 30 minutes after being admitted in the hospital and said that collectors and joint collectors will be held responsible for any negligence.
Reddy instructed the officials to monitor the facilities being provided to the patients and not to step back on expenditure. He ordered the officials to display the bed strength, the availability along with toll-free numbers to lodge a complaint in case of inconvenience.
The officials stated that so far around 32,000 beds were made available in 128 district COVID hospitals, 8,000 beds in State COVID hospitals and based on the health condition of the patient, it will be decided where to admit.
The Chief Minister also issued instructions to keep a stock of Remedisavor drug in State COVID hospitals in the case of an emergency.
"In the next six months, around 17,000 doctors and staff will be recruited to treat COVID patients," Reddy said.
The Chief Minister said that the State has undertaken COVID-19 testing on a massive scale with 31,000 tests per million population and is conducting 50,000 tests every day. Despite the absence of corporate hospitals in the state, the death rate is under control with only 1.06 per cent, whereas the national average rate is 2.5 per cent.
About 50 per cent of the total one lakh cases have recovered and are leading a normal life. The officials said that the state government has always been providing accurate data on COVID-19 cases in the most transparent way. Even after recording 6,000 positive cases, the State did not hide facts.
( With inputs from ANI )