Andhra minister Dharmana Krishna Das inspects COVID-19 preparedness at GEMS Hospital

Andhra Pradesh's minister of roads and buildings in the government, Dharmana Krishna Das on Friday visited the Great Eastern Medical School (GEMS) Hospital and reviewed the preparations to handle the COVID-19 patients.

With 30 ICU beds and 800 non-ICU beds, the GEMS hospital has been dedicated for coronavirus treatment.

Das inspected the facilities available in the hospital, and lauded the services of doctors, sanitation workers and the police.

He also appealed to the public to obey the rules imposed by the government.

"People should stay safe at houses and maintain physical distance with each other. Quarantine centres and shelters for homeless people have also been set up in Srikakulam district. The state government is conducting household surveys to identify COVID-19 cases. Free ration is also being distributed to the poor," he said.

Rao further stated that welfare pensions are being delivered door-to-door, and Rythu bazaars are being decentralised to maintain physical distance. He also mentioned that provisions are being made in urban areas for door-to-door delivery of medicines and essential commodities.

"People should utilise the services, strictly adhere to the lockdown and cooperate with the government in the fight against coronavirus," he said.

Srikakulam is the only district of Andhra Pradesh which has not reported any positive case till date. Das appreciated district collector J Nivas for the strict measures taken for containing the spread of the highly contagious virus.

The country is under a 21-day lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which has claimed the lives of 56 people and infected over 2,000 others.