The City of Destiny has registered just two COVID-19 positive cases since April 7, and after an initial spurt. It also carries the distinction of recording the first positive case in the State, when a 65-year-old man from Allipuram area with a travel history to Saudi Arabia, tested positive on March 19.
Thereafter, after a steady growth, the number of cases reached the 20 mark by April 6 and came to a halt. It was only in the fourth week that two cases surfaced taking the total to 22.
In the meantime, 19 positive cases were discharged after they tested negative from the hospitals over a period of time, restricting the number of active cases to three, as on Friday.
Guntur turned into a COVID-19 hotspot
The constant efforts and steps taken by the State government and the local administration have restricted the spread of the pandemic in the densely populated port city, says Principal of Andhra Medical College Prof. P.V. Sudhakar.
The 22 committees, set up by District Collector V. Vinay Chand, are keenly monitoring the situation in the district, segregating patients and restricting them to home quarantine, isolation wards and quarantine centres, based on their symptoms and test results.
Medical experts say that the containment strategy of the district administration has been very effective, be it identifying and containing the foreign returnees or freezing the red zones, from where positives cases were recorded.
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Cluster management
Community- level screening holds the key
Cluster containment and home quarantine committees are ensuring that no outsider enters the clusters, wherever positive cases were identified. Mobile markets are functioning to ensure the supply of essential goods.
Measures are also being taken to avoid public gatherings and social distancing is being strictly implemented, says Mr. Vinay Chand.
The Rapid Response Teams of the GVMC have also been very effective. "For every five wards there is a team, which is headed by a doctor. As soon as we receive a call at the COVID control room, a team is rushed to the spot with an ambulance and action is initiated as per the protocol and as condition of the case demands," says Dr. Sudhakar.
The moment a positive case is detected, the area within a 3-km radius is declared as containment zone and the containment management team, which includes the police and sanitation staff, moves in.
From March 26 to April 6, about 3,912 samples were collected for testing in the city. During the same period, 903 members were isolated and all of them were discharged, barring those who tested positive.
The district leads from the front when it comes to the number of tests conducted with the total crossing 10,000 till date.
