Two foreign-returned students have quickly recovered from the dreaded coronavirus in Ongole and Nellore respectively much to the relief of the authorities and people as well. But the large number of infections contracted by those who returned from New Delhi after attending a religious meet and their primary contacts is posing a threat.
The number of infected persons has steadily risen to 67 and 50 in Nellore and Prakasam districts respectively. The health staff are literally on their toes to prevent the spread of the disease at the community level.
A positive development is that a majority of the patients are on recovery path, COVID-19 nodal officer in Nellore Narendra says.
‘No need for panic’
"The health situation as of now is well under control. But we cannot remain complacent," says Government General Hospital Superintendent Dr. D. Sriramulu in a conversation with The Hindu. The primary and secondary contacts of the patients who have tested positive may carry the virus. Yet they may not have any symptoms during the incubation period. Hence we have started community-level screening in the 16 hotspots in the district, he says.
More than 7,000 persons - 4,000 in Nellore and 3,000 in Prakasam - have been subjected to screening in the COVID-19 clusters.
The mouth swab test results of over 900 in Nellore and 600 in Ongole are still awaited. Preparing for any serious health situation, over 3,000 beds - 2,000 in Nellore and 1,000 in Ongole - have been arranged.
