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Agra’s CMO removed as Covid-19 cases surge
AGRA In wake of the rising Covid-19 cases in Agra, the UP government removed the city’s chief medical officer (CMO) Mukesh Kumar Vats and additional director (health)
AGRA In wake of the rising Covid-19 cases in Agra, the UP government removed the city’s chief medical officer (CMO) Mukesh Kumar Vats and additional director (health) Dr AK Mittal from their posts.
With nine more positive cases in the last 24 hours, Agra’s corona tally rose to 752 on Monday.
The outgoing CMO was attached to the office of the district magistrate (Agra) and replaced by Dr RC Pandey.
Dr AK Mittal was attached to commissioner (Agra division) office while Dr Avinash Kumar Singh took over as new additional director (health), Agra.
“Special officer Dr RC Pandey to take charge as Agra CMO with immediate effect, replacing Dr Mukesh Kumar Vats. The decision has been taken considering the current situation prevailing in Agra due to spread of Covid-19,” the order from state chief secretary Amit Mohan Prasad said.
“The focus will remain on checking the spread of coronavirus. And for this, public participation is most important. Citizens will be asked to follow the protocol of lockdown. The health department will be there to help them out,” stated Dr RC Pandey, the new CMO.
“Coordination and cooperation amongst stakeholders will help in better strategy to end the ongoing crises due to Covid-19,” he added.
Prior to this appointment, Dr RC Pandey was serving as an officer on special duty (OSD) in the health department. Outgoing CMO Dr Mukesh Kumar Vats was attached to the office of the District Magistrate (Agra).
Both the outgoing officers, Dr Mukesh Kumar Vats and Dr AK Mittal were to retire in June.
So far, Agra had witnessed 25 Covid deaths while 326 patients were discharged after being cured. In all, 9,310 samples were tested in the district while the number of active cases remained at 401, informed Prabhu N Singh, district magistrate.
Meanwhile, a five-member team from Lucknow reached Agra to review arrangements to control the spread of Covid-19.
The team included Alok Kumar, principal secretary (industrial development); Rajneesh Dubey, principal secretary (medical education): Vijay Prakash, inspector-general; Dr Avinash Kumar Singh, officer on special duty and Prof Alok Nath – head of department, pulmonary department, SGPGI.
The officials held a meeting with officials of Agra at Circuit House.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had on Sunday ordered high-level medical teams and senior bureaucrats to go to Agra, Meerut and Kanpur as these three districts recorded an unabated spike in coronavirus cases.
The officers will submit a report regarding the districts to the chief minister every morning and evening. Yogi Adityanath issued this directive at a review meeting with chairpersons of 11 committees set up for Covid-19 management.
