The year 2020 was quite a tough journey for Chittoor district. Flanked between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the tail-end district of Andhra Pradesh is known as a hub of hectic business transactions through the inter-State border.
Dotted by many famous shrines including Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala and the temples at Tirupati, Srikalahasti and Kanipakam among others, the district receives a lot of devotees from across the country on a daily basis.
Closure of temples
As the lockdown led to the closure of the temples for over three months, it delivered a blow on the business activities, causing loss of livelihood of a substantial population.
The people of the district share an inseparable bond with the cities in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Koyambedu link
Thousands of people with business interests keep criss-crossing the inter-State borders daily. The months-long lockdown had a telling effect on the district’s economy. Thousands of vegetable farmers and merchants were hit with the closure of Koyambedu market in Chennai, which became a hotspot for infection.
The district was yet to register a single COVID-19 positive case when the nation-wide lockdown was clamped on March 24.
In April, the first case was identified in Srikalahasti and the patient had just returned from London. But, the number soon soared to hundreds, then to thousands.
The fear of spread of infection from Koyambedu market kept the authorities on their toes.
All the national, State and rural roads looked deserted in the wake of intensified police patrolling to restrict the movement of people. Yet, the number of positive cases began to swell by June, with an alarming number of casualties.
Just a few days left before the year ends, Chittoor district now stands first in the State with 840 deaths due to COVID-19 and a cumulative tally of more than 86,000.
However, the situation has improved significantly as the number active cases remains less than 400 now.
Healthcare services
It was a year of endurance for the district administration which left no stone unturned to keep the infection count at bay.
The health authorities came up with an action plan to keep more than 5,000 beds in reserve, besides adding a substantial number of beds at the SVRR and SVIMS hospitals.
The mega pilgrim amenities complexes belonging to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) were into COVID care centres.
Many government officials from police, health, revenue and other frontline departments who were on COVID-19 duty got infected.
District Medical and Health Officer M. Penchalaiah said that the administration had been doing its best when it came to extending healthcare services to the patients.
“Be it sample testing, admission to hospitals, treatment or post-COVID care, we are putting a lot of efforts on all fronts. And these initiatives are paying the results as the number of active cases has come down drastically. Now, we are waiting for vaccines. Though the COVID-19 situation has improved substantially, we can not afford to lower the guards. We are constantly cautioning the public about the possible new wave of infection and monitoring the situation closely,” said Mr. Penchalaiah.