After the first COVID-19 positive case was reported in Visakhapatnam city from Allipuram area in the city on Thursday, high alert has been sounded and health officials, civic body staff, district administration and others concerned have swung into action on Friday.
The 3-km radius from the residence of the patient in Allipuram area have been declared as core zone and cordoned off and another 2-km of outer periphery has been declared a buffer zone.
Officials and staff from GVMC and Health Department swung into action to sanitise the 3-km radius of core zone and teams were seen spraying disinfectants comprising bleaching powder and handheld mobile sprayers containing sodium hypochlorite.
“We are also in the process of collection of data from the patient and his family members to do the contact listing so that we can trace all the people whom he had met during the last few days, including the people in religious places,” said Joint Collect Venugopal Reddy.
As many as 140 special task force teams comprising health workers, ASHA workers, ward volunteers and others have been sanitising the entire area, since early hours of Friday. The teams have been conducting door-to-door survey of about 7,800 houses in the area.
Each team comprises four ANWs and a ASHA worker and for every five teams one doctor is assigned. In total 25 doctors have been assigned the job, said Mr. Venugopal Reddy.
“We have asked the Commissioner of Police trace the contact list, including the auto drivers and taxis in which he had travelled,” he said.
Visakhapatnam reported its first Covid-19 positive case when a 65- year-old-man having a travel history of visiting Saudi Arabia tested positive.
The man who stays in US came to Hyderabad recently to visit his daughter. He went on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and returned to Hyderabad after visiting Mecca.
Four days ago he came to Vizag from Hyderabad by Kacheguda express to visit his ancestral house at Vivekananda Nagar in Allipuram area.
On March 17, he approached a hospital in the city due to some health problem. Observing his symptoms, he was immediately referred to the isolation ward in Government Hospital for Chest and Communicable Diseases where he was admitted.
His samples were sent to SVIMS at Tirupati and reports were received on Thursday night, which turned out to be positive.
Family in quarantine
Meanwhile, scoffing rumours that the patient had died, DMHO S. Tirupati Rao said that he was under treatment and his wife and daughter quarantined.
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