It was on March 17 last year when a 65-year-old man from Alipuram was admitted to a hospital with suspected symptoms of coronavirus. His samples were confirmed positive two days later.
The man, with a travel history to Saudi Arabia, was the first COVID-19 case in the city and his 49-year-old wife also tested positive later.
From just one case on March 19, 2020, the district has recorded more than 60,800 positive cases in the last one year and the virus has claimed around 540 lives during the period. And among the victims are the people from all sections of the society—doctors, nurses and paramedics, police personnel, government officials, politicians and young and the old alike.
On the brighter side, the district has recorded a recovery count of over 60,100, which means a recovery rate of around 98%.
After the initial few cases, mostly foreign returnees or their primary or secondary contacts, the first surge of infection was seen in the second week of April, with the return of the Tablighi Jamaat attendees.
The virus was new to the medical fraternity then and the treatment was being offered on an experimental basis. Though the initial reaction was panicky, the district administration was swift in its action by forming clusters and demarcating red zones. Yet, cases rose sharply in areas such as Dandu Bazaar, Jalaripeta, Kobbarithota and Narsipatnam.
The virus spread was under control till June end, by which the tally was hovering around 1,000. The number crossed the 50,000-mark in the next two months and the death toll rose from just 10 to 400.
From just one hospital, the district administration scaled up the hospital facility to over 40, including 22 Category-A facilities. From a few hundred beds with oxygen facility, the number rose over 5,500.
For its initial handling of the pandemic, the district administration even received plaudits from the British Medical Journal.
‘Ready for any exigency’
“There was some panic in the initial days. But, we got over it quickly. Our multiple committee system worked well. Today, we are ready to handle any eventualities,” says Collector V. Vinay Chand.
After seeing a steep rise in the tally till August, the cases started to decline from September. Between November 2020 and February 2021, the single-day tally was in single digit.
Yet, there is a surge in the cases in March. The total number of infection reported in January and February did not cross 350. But, the count has gone past 300 in just 17 days this month.
Norms thrown to the wind
The health officials attribute the rise in the infection count to three major events associated with huge public gatherings—agitation against the move to privatise Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, campaign for municipal elections and Maha Shivaratri festival.
“In all three events, people were seen moving around in large numbers without maintaining social distance and not wearing masks properly,” said District COVID Special Officer and Principal of Andhra Medical College Dr. P.V. Sudhakar.
Testing intensified
“People hardly follow social distancing norms and that is why the need of the hour is to come up with a policy to make wearing mask in public places mandatory. Mask ensures 90% of protection from the infection. If it is combined with maintaining social distance and sanitising hands, we can beat the second wave,” he said.
Dr. Sudhakar also said that sample testing has been scaled up again and at least 6,000 tests are being conducted daily.
