A 34-year-old man, who has returned from the United Kingdom and his mother, tested positive for COVID in Nellore as the health authorities identified 144 persons with travel history to Britain, in south coastal Andhra Pradesh in the last 24 hours. The man returned from the U.K. 15 days ago.
The health officials said the man and his mother were in an isolation ward in the Government General Hospital in Nellore. However, the father of the foreign returnee tested negative for the virus. The samples collected from the duo were being sent to the National Institute of Virology to assess whether it was new and more infectious coronavirus strain, which led to spike in fresh cases in Britain, Nellore District and Medical Officer S. Rajyalakshmi told The Hindu.
Following this, the SPSR Nellore district authorities stepped up containment measures in Nellore city, where 37 U.K. returnees were quarantined. As many as 20 U.K. returnees tested negative in the district, where the first positive case was a person who had returned from Italy. The district administration made a frantic search for four U.K. returnees who were not found in the address given in their passport. The details of their passports were forwarded to Cyberwing of the police to trace them.
In Prakasam, health authorities heaved a sigh of relief as none of the 97 U.K. returnees tested positive so far. While three persons were put on institutional quarantine, the other foreign returnees were allowed home quarantine, said Prakasam DMHO P. Ratnavalli.
Prakasam District Collector Pola Bhaskar said the health situation was well under control with active cases, which reached the peak in the month of August, declining to a low 149. The district administration is fully geared up to face any spike in fresh cases in New Year. Meanwhile, the health authorities identified 25,000 health workers for inoculation of vaccine in the first phase in the district.
Fresh cases
Meanwhile, with 36 fresh cases, the cumulative confirmed cases rose to 1,25,620 in south coastal Andhra pradesh in the last 24 hours. With 38 patients getting cured during the period, the number of active cases dipped marginally to 689 in the districts of SPSR Nellore and Prakasam.
