Govt’s restrict red, protect the green fails: Srikakulam reports 3 cases, loses corona-free status

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s decision to declare Srikakulam as a green zone seemed to be a flawed one as corona has finally entered the district which until yesterday remained unaffected by the deadly virus.

Srikakulam on Saturday reported three positive cases in Sida and Kuravada villages of the district. All the three cases were linked to Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation in South Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz Mosque in early March. Jagan Mohan Reddy recently appealed to the people not to give religious colour to corona virus.

The district administration in Srikakulam on Saturday stated that the three positive corona patients came in contact with 67 people, 29 of them were sent to quarantine facilities in the state.

Massive efforts are being made to identify the contacts to contain the spread of the virus. Several checkposts were set up at every entry and exist points in the district from neighboring areas, including Odisha to prevent entry to people. The district has been put on a high alert, sanitation works have been beefed up. Six villages in the Pathapatnam mandal have been declared as red zones. Experts were of the view that it is too late and too little. They questioned the wisdom of the government to declare Srikakulam and Viziangaram as corona green corridor.

Experts were of the view that it is too late and too little. They questioned the wisdom of the government to declare Srikakulam and Viziangaram as corona green corridor.

The state declared around 573 mandals as green zones, 56 red, 47 orange zones by the state government. The government identified 133 containment clusters’ in 11 districts of the state and sounded a red alert to contain the spread of corona virus.

On Saturday, the state reported 61 new positive cases of corona, the tally crossed the 1,000 mark, 31 died till now. Kurnool continued to see alarming rise in the number of cases with its count at 275, followed by Guntur at 209. Of the 61 new cases, 27 reported from Kurnool, three were reported in Srikakulam. AP overtook Telangana in number of corona cases at 1,061 while the tally of neighboring Telugu state stood at 893.

Andhra Pradesh saw the biggest single-day spike in new corona virus cases on Thursday. The state recorded the most coronavirus cases in a single day with 80 reported on Thursday. It brings the total number of cases in the state to 893, according to the government heath bulletin. The virus has so far claimed 27 lives in the state

Andhra Pradesh saw the biggest single-day spike in new corona virus cases on Thursday, health special chief Secretary K S Jawahar Reddy said the state government is making all efforts to insulate the green zones from the effects of corona virus, while restricting cases in red zones. “Protect the green, restrict the red is the government’s motto,” he said.

In the video-conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jagan Mohan Reddy politely shot down the prospect for further extension of complete lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19, resisting a step that most other states in the country, including Telangana have already taken. “We should take bold steps, but we have to ensure the wheel of economy keeps moving if not in full speed at least to the level of sustenance of the people,” Jagan told Modi in the video-conference. “In my opinion, the lockdown should be enforced only in the red zones,” he said.

Jagan and his core team came under sharp criticism for the government’s failures to produce widespread access to medical equipment (personal protective equipment, gloves, masks) to doctors, nurses and paramedical staff, test kits, ventilators to patients. Opposition leaders like TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu raised concerns that the government was not testing enough, but such observations were not taken too seriously by the government. The effects of which are too evident. Srikakulam fell victim to the flawed policy of the government, lost its corona-free status