With no respite from increasing COVID-19 cases, Chittoor district registered over 1,000 cases from Friday night till Saturday morning, taking the tally beyond the 12,500-mark, including 110 deaths in the last three months.
District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) M. Penchalaiah said the district was heading towards the peak stage, which is expected around early October. He urged people to strictly adhere to COVID-19 guidelines and not to move out without masks.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We have taken all the precautionary measures to curtail the growth rate, and to some extent we have succeeded in keeping the spread under control since a couple of weeks. Still, the cases continue to mount, causing concern among the public and the officials as well,” the DMHO said.
No dearth of medicines
Dr. Penchalaiah said there was no dearth of emergency medicines, ventilators at the COVID hospitals at Chittoor, Tirupati, Kuppam and Madanapalle. “People who complain of any symptoms would be immediately attended to by the field staff as and when the information reaches the control room. We have sufficient stocks of certain newly developed emergency medicines for COVID-19 treatment. I request the public not to panic, as the death rate too has been drastically curtailed, and the morbidity is hitting only those with multiple complications,” the official said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Cases spike in Tirupati
The COVID-19 Task Force officials at Tirupati said the urban and rural limits of the Tirupati Municipal Corporation witnessed a spiralling rise in COVID-19 cases, with 580 cases on Saturday morning, with Srikalahasti recording 49 cases, followed by Puttur, Renigunta and Chittoor with 24 cases each. While the eastern mandals of Varadaiahpalem, Satyavedu, Pichatur, Nagari and Nindra continued with two-digit figures daily, the virus spread has considerably been less in the western mandals, some of which had registered single-digit cases.
The mandals of B. Kothakota, Gurramkonda and Kalikiri of Madanapalle revenue division have come out with just single case each on Saturday.
Woman dies
The death of a 60-year-old woman due to COVID-19 in Tirupati on Friday night turned into a moving episode. The woman’s son, who runs a voluntary organisation, kept travelling all over Chittoor district, creating public awareness on the virus, apart from distributing face-masks and prompting people not to create obstacles in cremation of COVID victims.
A fortnight ago, he tested positive to the virus, and after a few days, he was shifted to a corporate hospital in Chennai. His mother, who was believed to have contracted the virus, was going undergoing treatment in Tirupati, and died on Friday night. The task force officials performed her cremation at Tirupati, without the presence of her son.