The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Friday decided to set up a high-level Cabinet sub-committee, mainly comprising five ministers and 10 IAS officers, to monitor and contain the spread of corona virus in the state which had reported 11 cases so far. Further, the Cabinet has decided to extend the lockdown declared by the government till April 14 from the current March 31.

The Cabinet, chaired by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, also took a decision not to allow people from other states to enter into the state’s borders and strictly enforce the lockdown till April 14 without any relaxations to anyone except essential services. The decision was taken after thousands of students and IT employees from Hyderabad attempted to cross the Telangana border to enter Andhra Pradesh creating tension at various checkposts.

The Cabinet also decided to set up a 24-hour helpline to track and monitor the corona situation in Andhra Pradesh. The Chief Minister directed Minister for Fisheries Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao to hold a meeting with the representatives of aqua industry which had been the worst-hit due to the spread of corona virus and the complete lockdown declared by the government thereafter.

The Cabinet meeting also gave a green signal to the ordinance to pass the State Budget to meet the expenditure in the initial months of the new financial year starting from April 1. After the approval of the Council of Ministers, the Ordinance will now be sent to Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan for promulgation.

Speaking to mediapersons, Perni Nani said the government had set up four hospitals in Vizag, Vijayawada, Tirpuati and Nellore with 100 ventalitors capacity in each of the hospitals. He convened the serious concerns raised by the Cabinet on the issue of thousands of students and IT employees who tried to enter the Andhra border from Telangana and that such movement of people by crossing interstate borders can spread the contagion.