While the World Health Organisation warned that the world cannot be complacent when it comes to dealing with Covid-19 advocating aggressive containment and mitigation plans, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has consistently sought to downplay the public health risk of the burgeoning pandemic while his administration has been slow to respond to the crisis.
In arguing for returning the state to some kind of normal sooner rather than later, Jagan seems to have eased restrictions in 559 mandals declared as green and that activities can continue as usual without any curbs in the green zones. “Of the 676 mandals, only 63 are in the red zones, 54 in orange, 559 mandals in green zones. 80% of Andhra Pradesh is is corona free. There is a need to protect the green zones,” he said.
In the fourth video-conference with the CMs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the lockdown enforced by the Centre to arrest the spread of novel coronavirus in the country will continue in hotspots. In the virtual interaction with the CMs of all the states, Modi some relaxations would largely depend on the situation in those states and curbs would be lifted in districts that have shown improvement. A decision on extending the countrywide lockdown would be taken after May 3.
For more than a month, the country has been talking of the need to “bend the curve” of the coronavirus outbreak, limiting the spread of the illness to prevent the healthcare system from being overwhelmed. As cases of the corona virus continue to spread across the state, including Srikakulam which was till two days back was in the corona green corridor, Jagan is not backing away from spreading personal beliefs about the virus that contradict health officials and experts.
AP reported 80 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 1,177 and 31 deaths, Jagan found solace comparing the state to other states. He said, “Andhra Pradesh is in far better shape than other states.”
Jagan’s address to the state on Monday evening was his most somber public appearance to discuss the pandemic, but seemed most unscientific. Chief Minister, who in his earlier press briefing stated that the virus will “come and go”, on Monday said, “We cannot completely eliminate the virus. In fact, we should now accept it as part of our lives. The time has come for us to realize that corona has now become a partner in our life and will continue to be so. Till the time someone finds a vaccine, people have to live with corona virus. But one should not treat as deadly or infectious. Kindly do not harbor that corona is infectious or something. Call 104, doctors will come and provide, not need to come to hospitals. In most cases it will get cured.”
While experts have cautioned that corona is different from influenza and that the virus appears to be more contagious and more deadly than the flu, especially because no vaccine is available, Jagan said people should not panic about Covid-19 and should be treated like fever and common cold.
“It is not as bad as the seasonal flu. It is like fever. It will go if you take proper care, wear masks, take proper diet and improve your immunity. If you take these steps, you can fight corona,” he prescribed. Further, he noted that much like H1NI, Covid-19 symptoms include fever, sore throat, runny nose and cough. Precautionary measures are similar too: wash hand frequently, wear a mask when unwell or in the vicinity of the patient, and practice basic hygiene and cleanliness.
He boasted that AP is the only state that was conducting the highest number of tests per million. “For a population of 10 lakh, the average test per million in India is 451 while in AP we are conducting 1,396 tests. So far, we have conducted 74,552 tests,” he said.
