Andhra Pradesh govt opens decentralised procurement centres for farmers amid lockdown

Andhra Pradesh government has set up more than 700 decentralised procurement centres across the state to help the farmers amid  the nationwide lockdown. These centres will be operational from Saturday onwards. 

READ: Andhra Pradesh Govt Takes Over 58 Private Hospitals Across The State To Deal With COVID-19

Procurement centres for farmers

Speaking to ANI, the Commissioner of Agriculture, Marketing and Cooperation, Pradyumna (IAS) said, "The new and decentralised procurement procedure not only helps the farmers sell their crop, but also helps authorities implement lockdown and social distancing norms on ground as the centres are located near to the farmlands across the state."

Earlier this week, the state government introduced 15 new procedures to treat those suspected and infected with Coronavirus, under the Dr. YSR Aarogyasri Scheme. The new procedures were introduced by government pulmonologists. A  release by the state government stated that the new procedures will come into effect immediately and will have to be followed on the request made by the Local Health Authorities after following all safety procedures.  

READ: Andhra Pradesh Government Announces 15 New Procedures To Treat COVID-19 Patients

Last week, CM Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the authorities to open testing labs in each district and also to create isolation wards in all hospitals. Special Chief Secretary (Health) KS Jawahar Reddy has said that  steps were being taken to increase the testing capacity of the labs in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. Jawahar Reddy explained about the special approach that is being undertaken on an experimental basis in Visakhapatnam city, where the identified red zones (having Corona positive patients) were divided into eight clusters and 20 samples were tested on a random basis from each cluster. Those who returned from abroad and persons in the high- risk age groups (below 10 and above 65 years) were chosen at random and their blood samples were tested.

The state government has also taken over 58 private hospitals across 13 districts in the state to deal with the coronavirus crisis. According to reports, a total of 19,11 hospital beds are available across the state. Out of the total, 17,111 are non-ICU beds, 1,286 are ICU beds and 717 are isolation beds. 

READ: Andhra Pradesh Govt Directs Stringent Guidelines For Handling Red Zones

READ: Andhra Pradesh CM Directs Authorites To Open Testing Labs In Each District