Chittoor district, which witnessed fewer than 500 cases per day in the past week, is now again witnessing an uptick with over 900 cases being reported on Friday.
The district continued to top the State in the death toll as well, with nine casualties in the past 24 hours. Since March last year, Chittoor saw 1,575 COVID-related deaths.
With the relaxation in curfew being extended from 6 a.m. till 6 p.m., public movement returned to normal even as COVID protocols were largely ignored. Heavy traffic was witnessed at many places in the district.
Amid the threat of a third wave, the district medical and health administration has stepped up efforts to bring additional staff and medical equipment to COVID hospitals and care centres. Though the operation of APSRTC buses is yet to resume towards Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu, private vehicles are being freely allowed to cross the border.
The report of a Delta-plus variant case emerging from Tirupati on Friday had put officials on edge, but they were relieved after knowing that the patient had fully recovered, and about 30 samples in the neighborhood also tested negative for the variant.
District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO) U. Sreehari said that the field staff of the medical and health wing were asked to be alert in the wake of growing cases in the past couple of days. “Compared to the 45% positivity rate in May, the present rate is at 5%. In spite of this, we are giving top priority to adherence to COVID protocols,” he said.
