Two more COVID-19 cases were reported from the GVMC limits in the city on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases in the district to 41.
Both the cases were reported from the hotspot of Dandu Bazaar area in Maharanipeta, from where a total of 12 cases have now been reported within a span of one week.
Both the cases, including a senior citizen and a young woman, were confirmed by officials from the Health Department and would be officially confirmed in the State Government’s health bulletin on Thursday.
“With 12 new cases in a week, Dandu Bazaar has become a hotspot. So far, we have not seen so many cases from a single area, that too within a radius of 500 metres,” said P.V. Sudhakar, principal of Andhra Medical College.
It is learnt that one of the 12 cases recorded so far from this area reportedly had physical contact with a person who returned from New Delhi. Police are verifying details, including call data records, in order to complete the contact tracing process.
‘Triple Ts’
District Collector V. Vinay Chand said that the entire area has been contained and only one entry and exit point has been created.
“The entire area, including the houses, are being sanitised and essentials are being provided at doorsteps, so that people need not come out or go in,” he added.
“As far as our medical approach is concerned, we are following the protocol of 3 Ts – Trace, Test and Treat. We are first tracing the originator, and from there, we are going for mass testing, which is followed by treating positive cases,” Mr. Vinay Chand said.
According to the Collector, all residents in the area, irrespective of age or symptoms or comorbid conditions, are being subjected to RT-PCR tests. So far, since the first case, we have done about 560 tests from one street alone. On Tuesday, we did 181 tests of which two tested positive. On Wednesday, around 180 tests were done, the reports for which will come on Thursday, he said.
Extensive testing
The district administration has deployed a number of testing teams, and tests are being conducted from house to house, the Collector said, adding that everyone will be tested and daily surveillance will be maintained at least for the next 14 days.
The district administration has already quarantined over 150 people, who have come in contact with both primary and secondary contacts, in community quarantine centres and they are being monitored on a daily basis.
“This apart, we are setting up at least two mobile clinics by diverting two 104 ambulances in the area, to facilitate voluntary check-up and testing,” said the District Collector.
Apart from Dandu Bazaar, the other areas of focus are Madhavadhara and Marripalem, from where five cases were reported in the last one week.
Of the 41 cases so far, including the two cases on Wednesday, the active cases in the district are 20, after 21 discharges.
