AP Government To Take Over Private Hospitals

The government of AP under the provisions of the Disaster Management Act and Epidemics Act has passed an order to take over private hospitals to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

In order, the government directed all private hospitals in the state “to place their premises with all available resources and manpower” at the disposal of district collectors as and when required, reported reputed media source.

“Private hospitals and Private medical college hospitals in the AP state are required for their services to be used in for COVID-19 treatment,” according to the order.

The AP government had said it would adopt a three-pronged strategy to check the spread of COVID-19, with emphasis on social isolation while effectively enforcing the lockdown. The state had seen a quantum jump in the number of coronavirus cases with 21, including 18 who attended the Tablighi Jamat congregation in New Delhi, testing positive, taking the overall tally to 44.

As the spread of the disease was found to be high only in urban areas with 12 out of 13 positive cases so far reported from cities and towns in the state. So, the special focus would be on tracking all the foreign returnees and placing them in quarantine.

Deputy Chief Minister (Health) A.K.K. Srinivas told reporters that the government has decided to intensify the monitoring mechanism as part of the 3-pronged strategy.

The government would conduct another survey to determine the exact number of foreign returnees, Srinivas said.