The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday appointed Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) executive officer KS Jawahar Reddy as the Chairperson of Covid command and control centre, amid rising coronavirus infections. "Jawahar Reddy, Executive Officer, TTD, Tirupati, is hereby appointed as Chairperson of the state Covid command and control centre with immediate effect and to report immediately," Chief Secretary Aditya Nath Das said in an order.
Jawahar Reddy is the former Special Chief Secretary (Health). He was transferred and posted as Executive Officer, TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) earlier in October 2020.
As part of appropriate measures to handle the evolving COVID-19 pandemic situation, the Andhra government has decided to appoint a Chairperson for the centre, which was revived on Friday, with as many as 35 bureaucrats named with various responsibilities across the state.
On Monday, Andhra Pradesh recorded the highest death toll from COVID-19 since October 20, as 27 people succumbed to COVID-19, even as the state registered 5,963 fresh cases. The overall toll climbed to 7,437, according to the health department’s COVID-19 bulletin. The state now has 48,053 active cases, the highest since October 8.
Once again, Chittoor district reported the highest number of fresh cases in a day, with 1,182 new cases, followed by Guntur (938), Srikakulam (893), East Godavari (626), Visakhapatnam (565), SPS Nellore (491), Kurnool (434) and Prakasam (280). Anantapur, Krishna and Kadapa added 156, 171 and 189 new cases respectively, while Vizianagaram and West Godavari reported 19 cases each. Krishna district saw six fresh COVID-19 fatalities, Chittoor and SPS Nellore four each, Guntur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Prakasam, Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam two each and Anantapur one in a day.
Meanwhile, the state COVID-19 Nodal Officer Arja Srikanth said in a release that 35,465 patients are currently in home isolation, while 7,535 were admitted in hospitals across the state and another 16,68 in Covid Care Centres. Of the total, 3,665 patients were on ventilator support. He said 126 Covid hospitals were being readied in the state with 17,000 beds and 2,000 ventilators.
(With PTI and IANS inputs)
Read: