The single-day coronavirus infection tally of more than 200 for the last week has kept the Chittoor district administration on tenterhooks as the schools are all set to reopen on August 16. Four people succumbed to the infection and 203 cases were reported in the district in 24 hours, ending Friday morning.
Collector M. Hari Narayanan has instructed the officials of the Education Department to keep a strict surveillance on the compliance with the COVID-appropriate behavior among the students.
A senior medical officer at the SVRR Government Hospital in Tirupati said that of the total 2.35 lakh COVID-19 patients identified in the district since the outbreak of the pandemic in March last year, close to 20 % are in the age group of 5 to 18. “However, the fatality rate among the children is almost zero,” he said.
The health officials observe that even as many districts in the State have been registering considerably manageable number of infections per day, Chittoor continues to show the graph scaling beyond the 200-mark.
“The single-day infection tally crossed the 400-mark last week, after a brief lull since July. Now, a major worry is the floating population, escpecially people from across the country visiting the pilgrim destinations in the district, though in small numbers. The inflow of migrant workers is also picking up. The inter-State business operations (neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) are returning to normal slowly. These factors are certainly behind the fluctuating graph of the daily count of COVID-19 infection,” he said.
Vaccination of teachers
The officials say that the focus now is on the vaccination of the teachers of both government and private schools, espcially those working in the rual areas.
The occupancy rate in the APSRTC and private buses plying on the inter-State routes is witnessing a surge. A majority of the cummuters are travelling without waering mask and not maitaining social distancing, in gross violation of the COVID-19 protocols, the health officials say.