Amaravati: Sarpanches to take care of Covid isolation centres

Amaravati: Covid isolation centres would henceforth be set up in the villages and the sarpanches would be entrusted with the responsibility of supervising them, said minister for panchayat raj and rural development Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy.

He said in a statement here on Tuesday that commissioner of panchayat raj Girija Shankar issued instructions to this effect on Monday.

The minister instructed the village panchayat secretaries to identify schools, welfare hostels, and other buildings in their villages to set up isolation centres where necessary number of beds could be arranged. The houses in the villages are generally small and not suitable for home isolation. It would be better isolation centres are set up in villages separately for women and men.

The minister said that beds, drinking water, toilets, sanitation, lights, fans and good ventilation facilities should be provided in these isolation centres. In case of home isolation, posters should be affixed on those houses to warn the visitors.

The Covid patients could be immediately shifted to the isolation centres instead of waiting for the test results. They should bring blanket, tooth brush, paste, soap and other necessities and food could be arranged by the family members at the isolation centres.

The services of Asha and ANMs could be used to create awareness among the patients in the isolation centres.

The minister instructed the village-level employees to cooperate with the sarpanches in discharging the duties. "The CEOs and DPOs of zilla parishads should monitor these isolation centres in their respective districts," he said.

Teams of waste management coordinators would visit these isolation centres and submit reports every day to the commissioner of panchayat raj.