Andhra imports 10 lakh kits from South Korea

Hyderabad: Already ahead of many other states in the country, Andhra Pradesh in conducing random coronavirus checks and has ordered for import of 10 lakh rapid test kits from South Korea in the next few days. The first batch of one lakh test kits arrived in the state by a chartered fight on Friday. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy himself took a test by the kits and he was negative.

The kits which give results within 30 minutes are expected to boost AP’s efficiency in conducting tests on the identified people exposed or susceptible to the virus spread.

Andhra Pradesh is one of the five states in the country which were pated on the back by the ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research) for conducing large number of tests.  Presently, Andhra has conducted 28,900 tests of which around 700 turned positive.

This is approximately 328 tests per every 10 lakh population, which is an above the average in the country. If the imported kits reach the state in the next 10 days, Andhra Pradesh would be conducting 450 tests per every 10 lalkh population. Besides, Chief Minister Jagan has ordered for manufacturing of 50,000 rapid test kits from private firms in Visakhapatnam’s MedTech city. They are currently making around 50,000 kits.

Andhra Pradesh, which was a late starter in Covid-19 cases in the beginning, became one of the fastest affected states in the country after 25 March, thanks to the large number of those who returned from Tablighi-e-Jamaat in Delhi.
As the sleuths tracked down all the Jamaat attendees, as many as 1,050 were identified and at least one third of them tested positive. Soon the number swelled to around 700.

After 130 of them were discharged from hospitals, now there are 570 active cases and 14 deaths in Andhra Pradesh. But the induction of more test kits, of different types, including PCR and anti-bodies, is expected to speed up the process and help narrow down the hot spots over a period of time. Andhra Pradesh also increased number of laboratories from one to six—Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Vijayawada, Anantapur, Kadapa, Guntur and Nellore.
The effective strategy of testing is stated to be idea of Chief Minister Jagan, but is monitored by two senior IAS officials—special chief secretary in CM Office Dr P.V. Ramesh and special medical and health chief secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy.

These two officials in consultation with other medical experts have been coordinating the rapid tests.
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas alias Alla Nani explained that wider testing process had helped the State check further spread of the virus and deaths due to Covid.

“The need for tests has come from a large number of Tablilghi attendees not reporting to the medical officials on time and spread of the virus to others in their family members and others around,” said he who looks after health portfolio.

Both the union health ministry and ICMR have appreciated the State for swift handling of testing of the affected people and sending them to either quarantine or hospitals well in time which has reduced the death rate and increased the discharge rate. “Our testing efficiency has been commended by the Centre and other states,” said the minister.

The testing kits are supplied to all the 13 districts and sent to remove areas wherever there are suspected cases. The testing has been felicitated by the newly introduced village secretariats which include four to five local part-time employees, mostly locals. They along with other medial and police staff track down the suspected people for the Covid tests.

From the beginning, CM Jagan has been arguing that the entire State need not be kept under lockdown mode and only the clusters where positive cases are located can be sealed off for two weeks time.

So, according to Jagan, expect read zones and orange zones, other green areas can be set free for lockdown and allowed normal life. Some ministers of Andhra Pradesh claim that the Centre has finally adopted this strategy.
However, the opposition TDP attacked the Jagan government for hiding the number of Covid positive cases and deaths so as to project a rosy picture in Andhra Pradesh. Senior TDP leader Varla Ramaiah said that Jagan who was in a hurry to hold the stalled elections to the local bodies in the State was fudging the figures and not allowing transparency. “Jagan is unmindful of its consequences,” Ramaiah said.

This was rebutted by senior minister Botsa Satyanarayana who termed TDP charges as baseless and said that former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was behind these charges.

“Naidu who is now in Hyderabad is trying to create panic among the public by attacking the state government which has been praised by the Centre for its deft handling of the situation,” said Satyanarayana.