Seven fishermen, who returned to native places in special buses from Chennai, tested positive taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 14 in the Srikakulam district. Officials said they were being shifted to hospitals in Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam.
ADVERTISEMENT
The fishermen belonged to Srikakulam, Itchapuram, Sompeta and Kaviti mandals. Apart from Chennai, more than 800 fishermen returned to Srikakulam district from Veraval of Gujarat in the first week of May. Their medical reports are yet to come from laboratories in Kakinada and Visakhapatnam.
The district administration collected blood samples from 1,405 persons on Sunday as the situationturned alarming with the spurt in positive cases among the fishermen. Additional District Medical and Health Officer B. Jagannatha Rao said that results of as many as 3,858 tests would reach the district in a few days. “The persons with COVID-19 symptoms have already been sent to special quarantine centres in the district. Special care is being taken for their speedy recovery. Five out of 14 patients recovered quickly. It is a good sign although cases number had gone up in the district,” said Mr. Jagannatha Rao.
With the increase in positive cases, District Collector J. Nivas directed officials to be on alert and implement lockdown rules strictly in containment zones, including one in P.N. Colony of Srikakulam.
ADVERTISEMENT
‘Relax norms’
Meanwhile, people living in P.N.Colony have been requesting district officials to relax norms since only one case was identified and no other case has been detected in the last three weeks. “Life becomes horrible in containment zone as people are not allowed even to visit pharmacies. We request the Collector and other officials to review the situation and relax norms since more than 20,000 people living in P.N. Colony and surrounding areas are facing problems,” said P. Srikanth, a resident of the colony.