The rising tide of COVID-19 cases continue to wreak havoc in the tribal hinterland of the district with the pandemic claiming the lives of a Mandal Parishad Development Officer (MPDO), a teacher and a father-son duo since Sunday night.
Gundala MPDO G. Venkata Rao succumbed to COVID-19 while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Khammam on Sunday night. Two more COVID-19 deaths were reported, one each from Turubaka and Muthapuram Mukthi Gumpu villages in the Agency mandal of Gundala on Sunday.
The mandal is grappling with steady surge in COVID-19 cases in the midst of the second wave of the pandemic.
The regular medical officer of the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in the mandal headquarters of Gundala reportedly contracted COVID-19 a few days ago and he is presently under home quarantine. Another medical officer was appointed in his place by the authorities on Sunday.
Around seven medical staff, including two doctors, three nurses and other personnel, of the government hospital in Palvancha have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 two days ago.
This has prompted the district health authorities to make alternative arrangements by drafting staff from the nearby public health facilities and speed up the process of recruitment of healthcare personnel on contract basis.
The actual number of deaths from coronavirus infections and post-COVID-19 complications is believed to be much higher as several deaths in interior areas are going unreported, sources said.
In Tekulapally mandal, a 35 year old teacher, identified as Narahari, died due to suspected coronavirus infection at his native Bommanapalli village in the mandal on Sunday.
In a heartrending incident, a father-son duo of the coal town of Yellandu succumbed to COVID-19 within a span of 12 hours on Sunday. Eighty-year-old Shivanandan, a retired employee of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) lost his battle to COVID-19 at a hospital in Hyderabad in the early hours of Sunday. His elder son Subash, 52, succumbed to the coronavirus infection during the course of treatment in a Hyderabad-based hospital on Sunday evening.
