KAKINADA: Some Corporators have made an appeal to officials to activate Covid control committees (Covid Kattadi Committees) and take their suggestions for undertaking fever surveys and also for conducting Covid tests.
According to sources, the state government has instructed the officials to constitute committees to control Covid and ensure involvement of people’s representatives in them. Around 50 committees have thus been formed and Mayor S. Pavani and Commissioner Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar are acting as chairperson and convener for the committees respectively.
Ward corporators and ward secretaries are to fulfil the responsibilities of the committees and the chairman and the convener would supervise the works. “But, after the formation of committees, nobody has explained the aims and the responsibilities and what we can do. We don’t know how much results are being achieved through the committees,’’ said 34th ward corporator Tahera Khatoon.
She said that fever surveys are being done by the volunteers and ANMs, but such surveys are not being fully conducted and if some persons are found to have fever, cold and cough, Covid tests are not being conducted. She said that the fever surveys should be conducted and at the same time, the tests should be available made to all the patients suffering from any ailments.
Ward-13 corporator Vommi Bala Kameswara Rao said that some persons undertaking the fever survey were conducting tests, due to non availability of sufficient tool kits, the personnel are not able to perform the tests on all the patients. Besides, they can do tests only on the primary contacts of patients. He said that testing kits should be supplied to the staff and testing centres should be increased and treatment ensured to everybody during this pandemic.
Kakinada Municipal Commissioner Swapnil Dinakar Pundkar said that the fever survey was being conducted in a satisfactory manner and all identified persons were being tested for Covid-19. The test number is put on the dashboard. He said all steps were being taken to contain the Covid-19 spread and that awareness was being created among the public on the safety protocols. He urged that the people should not gather in public places.
Kakinada Mayor Pavani said that all possible steps were being taken to make Covid-19 tests available to the needy persons and they would be expedited.
