Chittoor district registered 11 new positive COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking the total to 122. The new cases emerged from Tirupati Urban, Srikalahasti, Pichatur, Nagalapuram, V. Kota, Baireddipalle and Ramasamudram mandals, all linked to the Koyambedu market contacts.
According to medical and health officials, in the last five days, the number of positive cases took an alarming increase at 40. Using cellphone towers for tracking and in coordination with the Tamil Nadu police, the Chittoor police had so far identified close to 1,000 persons who had visited the Koyambedu market in the last fortnight for transportation of vegetables and other essential commodities. Tests were conducted for about 300 persons, while the remaining would be covered in a couple of days on a war-footing, said a police officer.
Several mandals, which remained untouched by the virus for more than 45 days during the lockdown, had all of a sudden turned into red zones, which included Nagalapuram, Satyavedu, Pichatur, V. Kota, Ramasamudram, Mulakalacheruvu and Madanapalle. This development had brought almost all the prime mandals with inter-State business activities into red zones.
Masks distributed
Meanwhile, COVID-19 Special Officer (Nagari Assembly Constituency) P. Ravi Raju on Monday arranged distribution of N95 masks and face protectoin gear to about 70 paramedical staff and ASHA workers at the primary health centre at Narayanavanam, the mandal that has not recorded any positive case so far.
“With the help of a voluntary organisation, we could procure the N95 masks for the field staff in the constituency, as they are more vulnerable to contracting the virus. It is the ASHA workers and paramedical staff who are now actively involved in the door-to-door survey to samples and identification of suspect cases,” Dr. Ravi Raju said.
