Andhra Pradesh reported one more COVID-19 death and 71 fresh cases in the past 24 hours and 58 of them are linked to COVID hotspots in other States, according to the Health Department.
Out of the 71 fresh cases, only 13 were due to local transmission. As many as 930 migrant labourers returned to the State from Kalyan near Mumbai of Maharashtra. They came to Guntakal railway station and went to their respective districts of Kurnool, Anantapur and Kadapa after which they were immediately tested for COVID.
Of the 250 persons 38 tested (Kurnool 37, Kadapa 1) positive for COVID and more positive cases are expected from the persons being tested in other districts, Special Chief Secretary (Health, Medical and Family Welfare) K.S. Jawahar Reddy said in a press conference on Tuesday.
On the other hand, all the fresh cases reported in Chittoor (10), Nellore (9) and East Godavari (1) are linked to the COVID hotspot Koyembedu market in Chennai. The remaining fresh cases were reported in Krishna (4) where a patient died, and Kurnool (9).
More cases are expected to be detected among the contacts of the persons who had been to the market. A few days ago too over a dozen cases were detected in Chittoor and 10 positive cases in West Godavari were of people who returned from Varanasi recently.
However, among the thousands of migrant labourers who returned to Vizianagaram and Srikakulam district only a few positive cases were reported, Dr. Jawahar Reddy said.
The tally has gone up to 2,089 and the toll increased to 46. With 58 more patients recovering and getting discharged from hospitals the number of total recoveries is at 1,056, which is higher the number of active cases at 987. The number of active cases was either coming down or maintained at the same level from May 3, Dr. Jawahar Reddy said.
Also, 35 of the 58 new recoveries were in Krishna district which is followed by Kurnool (17), Anantapur (13) and one each in Kadapa, Srikakulam and West Godavari districts.
Testing better than many countries
Dr. Jawahar Reddy said that testing will be continued till a vaccine for COVID-19 is found and two more testing laboratories in private colleges in Vizianagaram and West Godavari are going to come up soon. In the past day as many as 10, 730 samples were tested which is the highest number of tests to be conducted in a day so far, he said.
As of now 1.91 lakh samples were tested and with 3, 593 tests per million population ratio AP ahead of 13 countries and going by the number of tests the State is above 27 countries he added. The focus would be on senior citizens and persons with a comorbid condition for testing in red zones, he said.
“The new challenge we along with other States is handling the influx of migrant labourers, pilgrims and students but this is not unexpected. We are testing all incoming persons especially those from Maharastra, Rajasthan and Gujarat. So far about 8,000 were tested,” he said.
Further, Dr. Jawahar said that plasma is being collected from patients in SVIMS, Tirupati and Kurnool GGH and AIIMS, Mangalagiri has received in-principle approval for a clinical trial on plasma therapy. AIIMS will soon tie-up with a nearby GGH and begin the trials, he said.
Exit strategy
The government has formed six committees for six sectors including Industries, Shops and Establishments, Agriculture and Allied Activities and Rural Development, Public Transport, Public Works and Functioning of government and private offices to study and make exit strategy to be needed post-May 17. The committee reports would be submitted on May 13.
