Coronavirus continued to cause havoc in south-coastal Andhra Pradesh as three more patients succumbed to the pandemic while 257 others — 137 in Prakasam district and 120 in Nellore district — tested positive in the last 24 hours.
With this, the death toll rose to 11 in Prakasam district while the number of confirmed cases went up to 1,642. Nine additional containment clusters were created as the disease spread to newer areas. The total number of confirmed cases rose to 1,764 in SPSR Nellore district.
Meanwhile, 107 patients — 83 in Nellore district and 24 in Prakasam district — were cured of the disease and discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours.
In Prakasam district, 66 new patients were admitted to hospital. An 88-year-old woman from Kopperapadu village was among those who tested positive for the disease. The health condition of 345 patients was stable, health officials said. As many as 1,659 persons tested negative. The results of another 8,528 persons are awaited.
Mammoth exercise
Health workers in Prakasam district traced over 1,600 primary contacts of those who had tested positive, and subjected them to testing before isolating them. A containment action plan was implemented with full vigour in the 46 ‘very active’ clusters and 87 active clusters. It was found that 40 of the infected persons had no prior travel history to any COVID-19 hotspots.
Four of the infected persons were from Telangana, three from Odisha and two each from Karnataka and Maharashtra. Health officials tested 132 persons who had returned to Prakasam district from other States. The fresh cases in Prakasam district came from, among other places, Ongole, Hanumanthinipadu, Gudluru, Darsi, Peddapavani, Markapur, Kopperapadu, Dubagunta, Kolabhimunipadu, Kothuru, Kanigiri, Muthyalapadu, Singarayakonda, Kandukur, Mundlamuru and Giddalur.
Three doctors — two paediatricians and an orthopaedician in Pogathota area in Nellore — and 10 hospital staff members were among those who tested positive in Nellore.
Nellore city accounted for a maximum of 73 fresh cases in the district. The infected persons included police personnel attached to II Town police station. New cases came from different parts of the district bordering Tamil Nadu, including Tada (8), Sullurpeta(5), Atmakur (5) and Buchireddypalem (3). Two persons who had come from Prakasam district, one each from Kadapa and Guntur and yet another person from Bengaluru, also tested positive.