The coronavirus has resurfaced in the Kadapa district of India’s Andhra Pradesh, prompting the state’s health department to issue a high alert. Eight people have been found to have COVID-19 in the district recently, and two people infected with the virus have died over the past few weeks.
According to a report by the Indian outlet NDTV, a 52-year-old man from the Rajampet area of Kadapa tested positive for COVID-19 after developing fever and a cough, and later died while under treatment at the Christian Medical College (CMC) hospital in Vellore.
A 43-year-old man from Kadapa was admitted to the government general hospital with illness, where a COVID test found the infection; he later died while under treatment in the hospital’s COVID intensive care unit (ICU).
A 25-year-old student at Kadapa Medical College has also tested positive for COVID and is currently receiving treatment in isolation at home.
After the fresh outbreak, the district health department has deployed special teams and collected samples from about 40 people in the affected areas. Of these, 18 samples have come back negative, and the authorities are awaiting the results of the rest. District health officials said there were currently eight COVID patients in Kadapa district, and that samples had been sent to identify the variant and understand the pattern of infection.
The Andhra Pradesh government minister in charge, Savitha, directed that quick steps be taken to prevent the infection from spreading in Kadapa, ordering strict enforcement of COVID health rules and public-awareness campaigns in the affected areas. Cleaning operations have been stepped up in the affected areas, and disinfectant spraying and bleaching are also under way.
Family members of the infected have been directed to get tested for COVID quickly; those who test positive will be kept in an isolation ward and others kept under observation at home. Given the situation, the district’s hospitals have been directed to keep adequate beds, isolation facilities and necessary medical equipment ready. At the same time, the authorities have urged people not to panic but to stay cautious, follow personal hygiene, use masks in gatherings, and seek a doctor’s advice quickly if COVID symptoms appear.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report