COVID-19 cases continued to surge to new highs in Visakhapatnam district, with 2,117 fresh infections being recorded in the 24 hours ending Thursday morning. Thismarks thefirst time that the single-day tally has crossed the 2,000-mark during the third wave of the pandemic.
The last time that the district had recorded daily casesin excess of 2,000 was in May 2021, when the second wave was at its peak.
The number of fresh COVID-19 infections recorded since January 16 are 8,356.
Active cases skyrocket
Active cases have breached the 10,000-markin a span of three weeks,numbering11,088as ofThursday morning. It took just 24 days for the active cases to increase from around 100 to over 10,000. It may be recalled that the active caseload was 121 on December 27, 2021.
Almost 20% of total active casesin the State arefrom Visakhapatnam district. As per the State COVID-19 bulletin, the active caseload is 53,871. Vizagaccounts forthe most of the active cases with 11,088, which is 20.5%, followed by Chittoor with 9,888 cases, which isaround 18.3%.
As per the bulletin, the district also saw three COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 1,120. Three deaths were reported on January 19 and two on January 18.
Call centre abuzz
The 104 helpline numberset upfor COVID-19 cases is being flooded with hundreds of calls on a daily basis. While most of the calls are related to enquiriesregarding COVID-19 testing centres and to seekmedicaladvice,feware for hospital admissions, say relieved staffers.
According to Nodal Officer for 104 servicesT. Jeevan, the number of calls to the 104 servicesare steadily rising. “On January 16, we received 79 calls. On January 17, we received 142 calls followed by 210 calls and 620 calls on January 18 and 19 respectively,” Dr. Jeevan said.
“Most of the calls areregarding COVID-19 tests. Enquiries for hospital admissions are negligible. Peopleare enquiring about their nearest COVID-19 centre. Doctors here help them by respondingto the queries. People undergoing home isolation alsocall uswithqueries on treatment protocols,” Dr. Jeevan said.
“On Wednesday, we received 10 calls related to hospital admissions and again on Thursday , we received 10 more calls for hospital admissions,” he added.
He said that the 104 services is running witha 50-member staff and per shift, three doctors will be available at the centre, who would advise callerson home isolation andhospital admissions. Personnel from 108 services will also be present here. We depute them after receiving emergency calls, he said.