Amaravati, Apr 21 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy ordered a penalty of Rs 100 on all maskless people in public places at a time when Coronavirus is raging.

The mask rule came into effect from Tuesday.

The Chief Minister instructed officials on Tuesday to make the 104 helpline popular in such a fashion that it becomes the one stop solution for all Coronavirus related issues.

Aimed at breaking the coronavirus infection chain, Reddy called for the maintenance of at least 6 metres distance between chairs in convention centres and function halls.

He instructed similar practices for cinema halls, hotels and other places which see high turnout of people.

According to the Chief Minister, village and ward volunteers have already been deployed to survey people suffering from fever and also immediately test people exhibiting such symptoms.

Reddy instructed officials to ensure sufficient oxygen in all hospitals and called for procuring the state's share of oxygen from the Visakhapatnam plant.

He told officials that the state forged an agreement to procure 310 tonnes of oxygen daily. The Chief Minister said that the state is equipped with 26,446 oxygen powered beds in 146 hospitals.

"If all these beds are occupied, 347 kilo litres of oxygen will be needed while the state has a storage capacity of 577 kilo litres, which will be sufficient for one and a half days," said Reddy.

On Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh reported 8,987 new Covid-19 cases, raising the overall tally beyond 9.76 lakh, while the state's active cases breached the 50,000-mark to reach 53,889.