After a brief respite from COVID from mid of August till month-end, cases are on the rise once again in urban areas of Chittoor district, while the rural side is heaving a sigh of relief with many mandals registering single-digit cases.
The tally crossed the 45,000-mark in Chittoor by Sunday night, with Tirupati municipal corporation being a major contributor with about 20,000 cases, followed by Srikalahasti and Chittoor civic bodies with over 3,000 cases each. While Nagari municipality witnessed a slight drop in the rise of positive cases since last week, Puttur showed a steady rise in the cases from September 1.
The eastern mandals, including BN Kandriga, Varadaiahpalem, Pichatur, Nagalapuram and Satyavedu, continue to register two-digit cases daily. The situation has turned the corner in western mandals, a few of which in the in the Madanapalle division recorded cases less than five. However, cases have been mounting in Madanapalle municipality since a month.
Action against private hospitals
Meanwhile, Collector Narayana Bharat Gupta told mediapersons that in view of the complaints emerging against private hospitals providing COVID-19 care, notices had been served to a couple of hospitals in Tirupati, while a special team of medical officers was formed to inspect facilities available at the private hospitals and the fee structure. The Collector observed that the high recovery rate is very much satisfactory.
Superintendent of Police S. Senthil Kumar said that cases would be booked against those who try to prevent the cremation of virus victims. “There are several instances where the police personnel had interfered to tackle tension in the rural areas. At several places, the police helped the relatives and family members of the victims to procure the logistics for the funeral,” he said.