Andhra Pradesh govt sanctions ₹408 cr to tackle any emergency

AMARAVATI: The Andhra Pradesh government has approved release of ₹408 crore for equipping the health system with the capacity to effectively manage any contingency in the wake of the prevalence of novel coronavirus.

P V Ramesh, additional chief secretary to the chief minister, said chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has been closely monitoring the measures taken to prevent, contain and manage coronavirus in the state.

“Though not a single confirmed case has been reported, ₹408 crore has been approved for equipping the health system with the capacity required to effectively manage any contingency,” Ramesh said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, a health bulletin issued by the director of health and family welfare said of the 32 samples sent for examination, 23 turned negative.

Result of the remaining nine was awaited.

“Till date 439 passengers from Covid-19 affected countries have been identified and placed under surveillance. Of them 204 are under home isolation and 223 completed the 28 -day observation period. Twelve passengers are in hospital admission and are stable,” the bulletin said.

All 22 crew of a Chinese merchant ship Fortune Hero, which arrived in Visakhapatnam port on Friday, were found “medically-fit and healthy”. Of the total crew, 17 were from China and five from Myanmar. The port health officer boarded the vessel and screened the crew away from the port and found no traces of the deadly virus. Accordingly, the cargo was allowed to be offloaded, a release from Visakhapatnam Port Trust said.