Despite downward spiral of the COVID-19 incidence elsewhere, Chittoor district continues to record a daily average of above 400 cases, remaining at the top of the list of daily tally in the State. On Monday, the total number of positive cases in the district crossed the 76,000-mark, followed by 785 casualties.
It was observed that the majority of cases is emerging from Tirupati and Chittoor municipal corporations, followed by Srikalahasti and Madanapalle. The impact is also felt in their surrounding areas such as Renigunta and Chandragiri.
District Medical and Health Officer M. Penchalaiah said that until now close to 7 lakh tests had been conducted in the district since the outbreak COVID-19 in March.
The officer admitted the administration was worried over the number of new cases, despite the recovery rate of more than 90% is encouraging. He said that with more and more positive cases requiring home isolation, the task force officials were prompted to take all precautions before finalizing the isolation norms.
‘Carelessness led to spike’
The field officials at the rural areas said the COVID graph was playing truant in several mandals, showing sharp decline on some days, but immediately followed by sudden spike, causing concern. It was reasoned that the spike could be due to lifting of strictures on travel as also due to movement of rural people to urban areas for work. Wearing of masks and use of sanitisers have also come down drastically in recent weeks, contributing to the consistency in the number of cases.
