There was no let-up in COVID-19 cases in SPSR Nellore district as five more persons with travel history to the Koyambedu vegetable and fruit market in Chennai tested positive in the last 24 hours taking the count to 222 in the district, health officials said.
All the new cases were attributed to the traders getting into contact with their counterparts in Chennai’s market, that has become the hotbed of infections. While Sullurpeta registered one more patient on Sunday pushing the number of active cases in the town to 76, Kottamitta in Nellore city accounted for three fresh cases and Sangam one.
Alarmed over the steady increase in new cases, health officials decided to undertake a door-to-door survey in the district from May 27 to identify each and every person with symptoms of the disease and subject them to testing.
Police strictly enforced the lockdown in, among other places, Sullurpeta, Nellore and Sangam. District Collector M.V. Seshagiri Babu, along with Sullurpeta MLA K.Sanjeevaiah, oversaw the containment action plan in Sullurpeta.
The authorities made arrangement for distribution of milk, vegetables and other essential commodities at the doorstep of people and focussed on identifying vulnerable sections of people including senior citizens and children. All entry and exit points to the town were closed. People living close to Sullurpeta were asked to keep away from the town.
The number of patients under treatment at the Government General Hospital and private Narayana Hospital here went up to 111. As many as 107 persons were cured of the disease, while four persons had succumbed to it so far. As many as 271 persons were quarantined.
Meanwhile, the district administration asked the people to avoid social gathering during Ramzan celebrations on Monday.
New case in Prakasam
In the neighbouring district of Prakasam, a 20-year-old man from C.S.Puram on his return from Pune in Maharashtra contracted the disease, COVID-19 Prakasam nodal officer John Richardson said. The number of active cases went up to six.