Five new cases of suspected novel coronavirus have been reported in the State during the past 12 hours and results of samples tested continued to come out as negative as of Saturday, according to bulletin released by the Department of Health on COVID-19 at 8 pm .
The new cases are two symptomatic persons hospitalised in Chittoor, two in Visakhapatnam and one East Godavari and all of them are stable. Two persons who approached the S.V.R.R. Government Hospital in Tirupati on Friday evening tested negative and were healthy.
Meanwhile, the number of persons under home isolation went up to 204 from 152 on Friday.
The government so far has identified 439 persons who had travelled to COVID-19-affected countries and 223 of them completed the 28-day observation period. Also, so far 32 samples were tested and result of 23 samples came as negative and reports of the remaining nine are awaited.
In Chittoor, a week after a Taiwanese entrepreneur tested negative for COVID-19 at the S.V.R.R. Government Hospital, four suspected cases of the virus got admitted to the isolation ward on Friday and Saturday. All the four, including a mother and son, who recently returned from foreign trips.
Two of them were tested negative, according to the reports by Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS)
Reports of another two are awaited, according to hospital superintendent, N.V. Ramanaiah. The two locals of Tirupati who tested negative for the virus separately went to the hospital voluntarily on Friday night having recently returned from Kuwait, and the second one from the Netherlands.
In another incident, a mother and her son (aged 50 and 20) hailing from Tirupati, and who had returned from Singapore a couple of days ago, were brought to the SVRR Hospital on Saturday evening, with profuse coughing. They were shifted to the isolation ward and kept under intensive treatment. “We are awaiting the reports of these two,” Dr Ramanaiah said.
Medical shops raided
The government has notified the district Collectors as District Nodal Officers to monitor COVID-19 outbreak and the SVIMS has been commissioned for testing for COVID-19 and processing of samples has already begun.
Meanwhile, drug inspectors raided 343 medical shops in the State and booked cases against seven shops for overpricing of face masks.
The government has set up isolation wards at all the district and teaching hospitals and persons who have returned from affected countries can call the State’s 24x7 control room at 0866-2410978 or use the free 108 ambulance to visit the nearest government hospital if they have symptoms like cold, cough, fever, breathing difficulties and others by wearing a mask. For advice, people can dial 104 helpline.
