YSRCP MLA Hafeez Khan on Thursday launched a free ambulance service for transportation of deceased COVID-19 patients in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district. The MLA said that he observed a gap in the service provided by private hospitals as the ambulances were allegedly charging exorbitant amounts of money to transport the bodies of deceased COVID-19 patients.
“Taking the body of a COVID-19 patient from the hospital to conduct final rites is one major problem faced by the kin of the deceased. Private ambulance services charge exorbitant prices. This service has been launched to provide some respite to the kin of the deceased,” he said in a statement.
Kurnool Municipal Commissioner DK Balaji was present at the ceremony and lauded the efforts of the legislator. The legislator from Kurnool also appealed to the people of his Assembly constituency to make use of the service.
In July, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had launched 1,088 ambulance vehicles that were equipped with modern life support systems to provide better medical attention amid the pandemic. The CM also introduced 676 Mobile Medical Units (MMU) to cater to interior and remote villages in the state.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh's COVID-19 tally breached the 6-lakh mark with 8,702 new cases on Thursday, health officials said. The new additions have raised the state's tally to 6,01,462.
East Godavari reported 1,383 new cases while West Godavari reported 1,064 cases. Chittoor accounted for 905 new infections, followed by Prakasam (705), Kadapa (637) and Nellore (610) among others. Meanwhile, the total number of active cases declined to 88,197 from 90,279 on Wednesday.
Prakasam continues to battle the highest number of active cases with 12,411 infections, followed by East Godavari at 12,036. Until Thursday, Andhra Pradesh has tested 48.84 lakh samples.
With IANS inputs