A curfew-like situation was witnessed in many villages in West Godavari district as 13 persons tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Police restricted movement of people in all towns and villages.
Officials collected samples of the people from different places of which 13 tested positive. No case was reported from the district till Tuesday.
Police, along with the grama volunteers and Medical and Health department officials visited the houses of people suspected to have contracted the virus and shifted them to quarantine facilities. More than 40 members of Tablighi Jamaat of the district attended Ijtema (annual congregation) at Markaz and attended for prayers at Hazrat Nizamuddin from March 12 to 18.
Incubation stage
“People from Eluru, Bhimavaram, Akiveedu, Undi, Chintalapudi, Penugonda and other places attended Ijtema. We are trying to find out the details of those who attended the prayers,” said an officer.
Eluru Range DIG K.V. Mohan Rao said all those who tested positive were aged below 45 years, and no symptoms of fever and cold were seen, as the disease was in incubation stage in the patients.
Locals arranged barricades at the entry points of the streets, where the patients were quarantined in the villages.
Civic workers were seen sanitising the roads and the effected villages with disinfectants. They made announcements through public addressing systems appealing to the people not to venture out.
Alarming
“The situation is alarming in our village. Nobody is coming out of their houses since yesterday after rumours spread that the virus spread in Undi and it is officially confirmed today. Police did not allow the public to procure essential commodities today during relaxation time also,” said B. Sathi Raju of Undi village.
In Akiveedu, Palakollu, Narsapuram and other towns panic residents were seen glued to televisions on Wednesday. They explained about the situation to their family members and friends over phone.
