The Gollala Mamidada village in Pedapudi mandal has emerged as a major hotspot for COVID-19 cases in East Godavari district.
District Medical and Health Officer B. Satya Susheela told The Hindu that 95 positive cases have been reported from the district so far. “Of the total number of cases reported in the district, as many as 65 cases (60% of the total cases) tested positive for COVID-19 have been identified as the primary and secondary contacts of a 53-year-old man from Gollala Mamidada village,” Ms. Susheela said.
However, the district authorities are clueless about how the 53-year-old man, a hotel servant, had contracted the virus. On May 20, he was declared dead while undergoing medical treatment at the Government General Hospital in Kakinada. Until May 20, the man did not reveal his health status nor was he admitted to any designated COVID hospital.
On Monday, 19 persons tested positive for COVID-19 while 20 more persons tested positive on Tuesday, and all of them have reportedly contracted the virus from the primary and secondary contacts of the 53-year-old man.
On Tuesday, all of the 19 persons who tested positive hail from Gollala Mamidada while one five-year-old boy tested positive belongs to Bikkavolu village.
On the spread of the virus in and around Gollala Mamidada, Health Minister K. Kali Krishna Srinivas on Tuesday told reporters: “The strict implementation of containment measures may result in preventing the spread of the virus in Gollala Mamidada village. Only one COVID-19 death has been reported in East Godavari district so far.”
