A number of doctors in the city have expressed concern over the rush at RK Beach and shopping malls in the city, especially during weekends.
And they were appalled to see that many of the beachgoers and shoppers at the malls, were going around blissfully without wearing a mask and not caring to maintain the basic social distancing norms.
Speaking to The Hindu , District COVID Special Officer and Principal of Andhra Medical College P.V. Sudhakar said that if the COVID-19 appropriate behaviour is not followed by the people, then it would be really difficult to break the chain of spread of the virus.
The second wave is yet to die down and if people tend to flout the norms then the advent of the third wave will be earlier than anticipated, he said. According to him, if things are not brought under control, then by mid of August, the district can witness the third wave.
The medical fraternity expressed concern on the Delta variant that ravaged the city and the district during the second wave. “This variant is still present among us and the cases that we are receiving, even till date, is due to this variant. This variant is currently causing a lot of problem in the USA and within a short time, it has shot up from 54% to 80%,” said Dr. Sudhakar.
Wearing of masks and keeping away from crowded public places is the order of the day and it should be enforced by the district administration. The authorities concerned should impose fines not only on the individuals but also the shopping malls and establishments for not keeping things under control, said a senior doctor from the CSR block of KGH.
The district administration along with the police and the GVMC has already decided to impose ₹100 as fine on people not wearing masks and ₹10,000 to ₹25,000 on commercial establishments. This apart, if the establishments fail to enforce, then the shops will be closed for one or two days.
Meanwhile, GVMC Commissioner G. Srijana confirmed that as part of the vaccination drive 1,00,600 persons were vaccinated on Monday.
There are 164 vaccination sites in the district, which includes 147 in the government sector and 17 in the private sector.
So far, 20,01,445 persons were inoculated, including 15,44,931 who have received the first dose and 4,56,514 the second dose.
Two deaths
On Monday morning, the district recorded 57 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally of cases of 1,52, 380.
The district also recorded two deaths, taking the total death count to 1,049.
Meanwhile, 154 persons who were affected with the virus were declared as recovered, taking total recoveries to 1,49,550. The active cases have further come down to 1,781.
