In spite of the seemingly sincere efforts by the Kadapa district administration, there appears to be no respite in keeping COVID-19 spread under control, as 14 positive cases surfaced from a single locality on Wednesday.
BKM Street in Kadapa town, which reported 14 cases on Wednesday and was declared a containment zone, immediately turned into a fortress with barricading and entry restrictions. With this, there are two containment clusters in the city, spread over 27 wards.
Across the district, there are containment zones in Proddatur town and rural, Yerraguntla, Pulivendula, Badvel, Mydukur, Kamalapuram, Vempalli, C.K.Dinne, Chennur and Pullampet.
Wednesday’s development brought the district the dubious distinction of having seven municipalities and five mandals as containment zones, which is indicative of the rapid spread of the virus. The tag attached to the zone will be reviewed only if it does not show symptoms of further spike in the next 28 days.
Sale of meat
At the constituency-level task force meeting, Deputy Chief Minister S.B. Amzath Basha called for an end to sale of meat from May 7 to 17 in Kadapa. Suggesting heightened efforts towards contact tracing, he appealed to the public not to conceal their travel history or symptoms fearing stigma.
Vegetables and groceries would be supplied to every household as the residents would be barred from moving out of the containment zone, he said. Similarly, all the retail outlets would remain closed in the zone and only push carts permitted by the Tahsildar would be allowed inside the area.
Farmers dump vegetables
Meanwhile, Badvel town witnessed an ugly scene late on Tuesday night, with some farmers dumping their vegetables on the road, protesting against police clamping restrictions in the market area. As the main market came under containment zone, farmers were told to vacate the vicinity, who, however, objected to the same. The acrimonious scene ended with the farmers pouring their vegetables on the street.
Superintendent of Police K.K.N. Anburajan objected to the act and said any such activity in areas notified as containment zone would be dealt with severely. “Farmers should raise such issues by calling the police control room and not adopt such methods,” he cautioned.