The Year 2020 posed a big challenge for the authorities in combating the dreaded COVID-19 after a U.K. returnee tested positive for the viral disease in March. Then came the big surge of new cases when a group of infected persons returned from New Delhi after attending a religious congregation in April.
Just when the district registered zero positive cases in May, came fresh cases with the return of infected traders from Chennai’s Koyambedu vegetable market to the coastal village of Kothapatnam.
Coronavirus incidence peaked in August with migrants returning in large numbers to their native places. But the caseload drastically came down by December when a possible second wave of COVID-19 threatened to challenge the Prakasam district administration's capability to deal with the developing situation in the wake of the return of 93 persons from the U.K. to the district.
From a peak of 229 casualties in August, the fatality has came down to just six in November and a mere one in December, says District Medical and Health Officer P.Ratnavalli, who took charge when coronavirus incidence was at its peak. As many as 578 patients succumbed to the viral disease in the district so far.
The district administration's strategy of aggressive testing of primary and secondary contacts of the newly-infected persons and the judicious mix of hospitalisation of symptomatic and critical cases swiftly on one hand and treatment of asymptomptic cases in their homes has paid dividends, she says in a conversation with The Hindu. A large number of persons who were put in home qurantine were monitored 24 x7 by health workers under the overall supervision of medical officers and those requiring hospitalisation were shifted to hospitals in time.
Now the number of active cases have come down to a little over 100 from a peak of over 18,000 cases in August, she adds with a sense of relief as the monitoring of blood oxygen level of persons at the grassroots level and shifting only those suffering from comorbidity condition and critical cases to designated COVID-19 hospitals has yielded positive results. As a result, the recovery rate is a high 98.86% as against the national recovery rate of 95.78%. As many as 61,288 of the 61991 patients were recuperated so far.
Vaccination
''The worst is over now that vaccine is available. We are fully geared up to roll out the vaccination programme in New Year,', she says after overseeing the training of the health professionals for the inoculation of vaccine in January to start with to health workers in the first phase.
COVID-19 warriors, including sanitary workers and police personnel, will be given the vaccine in the second phase and those above the age of 50 years and those suffering from comorbidity condition in the third phase, she adds.
