Many COVID-19 patients aged over 60, and with comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension, were discharged from hospital in Kurnool district, in a huge morale booster to the district administration which is struggling to control the spread of the pandemic.
District Collector G. Veerapandian on Monday said that while 25 new cases were reported, taking the total number of positive cases to 491, the number of persons getting discharged also rose to 24.
“We are happy to say that many of these 24 persons getting discharged on Monday are above 60 years of age and have comorbid conditions, but they have weathered this pandemic to go home happily,” Mr. Veerapandian said.
Out of the 25 new cases, 13 came from Kurnool city and 11 from Nandyal, indicating that the new cases are limited for the past several days only to these two towns, Mr. Veerapandian observed. He added that by now, the administration has full information about the persons who have returned from Delhi, and has also traced their primary and secondary contacts.
The Collector said that even in quarantine centres, out of the 3,016 persons lodged there, all were sent home and those who tested positive at these centres were shifted to either of the two COVID-19 Hospitals - one at Shantiram and the other at Viswabharathi.
Only serious patients aged above 60 with comorbidities were being taken to GGH Kurnool, which is now a State COVID-19 Hospital, the Collector said.
All the quarantine centres would be converted into COVID Care Centres, where medical doctors along with paramedical staff would be deployed from among those recruited on Monday and COVID patients with mild symptoms or asymptomatic patients would be housed, with several teams from the Revenue Department, police and sanitation taking care of other needs.
Migrants arrive
Meanwhile, 31,000 migrant labourers had been brought into the district from Guntur and Prakasam green zones, out of over 40,000 of them stuck in other districts, Superintendent of Police Fakkeerappa Kaginelli said.
All of them were let in only after valid passes were issued by the authorities.
The medical teams are screening the migrant labourers for any health conditions.
Those with symptoms or asymptomatic, need to be in home quarantine for 14 days, Mr. Kaginelli said.
