One more COVID-19 positive case in A.P.

Govt. for enchancement of facilities to handle 4,000 samples per day

The State has reported eight positive COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with a 25-year-old man from Srikalahasthi, near Tirupati of Chittoor district, contracting the virus.

The patient arrived at Chennai airport from London late on March 18 and later reached his hometown Srikalahasti by car in the early hours of March 19, according to the Health Department’s bulletin.

Four days later, he developed symptoms on March 23 and was admitted to the Sri Venkateswara Ramnarain Ruia Government General Hospital in Tirupati the same day and tested positive to the novel coronavirus on Tuesday. Close contacts of the youth have been isolated and placed under observation.

Samples tested

On Tuesday, the State tested 62 samples and 61 turned out negative. Results of 14 samples were awaited.

To enhance testing capacities in the State, laboratories have been made function 24X7 and the authorities concerned are given permissions to recruit additional staff to handle 1,000 samples per day. At present four laboratories at SVIMS, Tirupati; Siddhartha Medical College, Vijayawada; Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada; and Ananthapuram Medical College, Anantapur, are equipped to handle 60 samples per day.

Meanwhile, the close contact of 65-year-old Visakhapatnam man, who was tested positive, has tested negative to COVID-19. One of his close contacts, a relative was tested positive a few days ago.

The number of foreign returnees increased to 14, 907 with 453 new ones identified on Tuesday. As many as 13, 290 returnees are under home isolation and 84 are in hospital isolation wards.