Anxiety and fear have gripped the people in Anantapur district as it reported 162 new cases and nine deaths in the last 24 hours.
Adding to their fears is the steady rise in the fatalities, which went up from 24 to 49 in just three days. While there were six deaths on Monday, 10 on Tuesday and nine till Wednesday morning in the district.
With 1,559 active cases as on Wednesday and a cumulative total of 3,813, the district has been pitchforked to the third spot on the State’s list of COVID cases, just behind Kurnool (4,226) and Guntur (3,824).
Meanwhile, the district administration, which was scrambling to find a place to house the patients, has identified the Cancer Day Care Centre near the JNTU Campus. An isolation ward would be created in the facility with about 185-200 beds.
A meeting with the private doctors on Tuesday yielded no result as they expressed their inability to treat coronavirus patients owing to lack of manpower.
While the five-storey super speciality hospital is getting constructed next to the Cancer Care Centre, it has not yet been used due to delay in execution of infrastructure work.
GGH severely understaffed
The Government General Hospital(GGH) in Anantapur, which is severely understaffed, is presently catering to 164 COVID-19 patients and of them, 76 were on oxygen and eight on ventilators as on Wednesday. A majority of the patients were admitted to the RTD Bathalapalli Hospital as it has 125 beds, while a few went to KIMS Saveera that has 32.
5 deaths in Kurnool
Meanwhile, Kurnool witnessed a steep rise in the cases as the district added 403 more to its tally on Wednesday, along with five deaths (113 total); the second-highest in the State. District Collector G. Veerapandian asked the nodal officers to encourage at least 30% of the patients to opt for home isolation.
The death rate can be reduced only by identifying and testing people with comorbities and provide them treatment at an earlier stage, he said. The number of discharged patients had also gone up significantly and was the highest in the State at 2,233 followed by 2,205 in Anantapur.
