Andhra Pradesh has witnessed its second case of COVID-19 as a person in Prakasam District has tested positive for the coronavirus, the state government announced on Thursday morning.
According to sources, the patient had a travel history to London and is said to have reached India on March 15. He went to his home in Prakasam district and later approached the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Ongole after showing symptoms of the coronavirus. He was kept in an isolation ward and his samples were sent to the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) in Tirupati, where it tested positive. He is presently undergoing treatment in Ongole.
The 24-year-old patient is a resident of Ongole town. He had reportedly visited Newcastle, and had taken a flight from London to Delhi, arriving on March 13. He then travelled by flight from Delhi to Hyderabad March 14.
He travelled to Ongole by bus on March 15, taking an auto to his home from the bus stand. Although he did not show any symptoms of COVID-19 earlier, by March 15, he had fever and cough. On receiving the information on March 16, authorities kept the patient under observation, and collected and sent his samples for testing March 17.
According to sources, so far, 7 co-passengers from the bus in which the patient travelled from Hyderabad to Ongole have been identified and asked to remain under home quarantine. 3 family members of the patient have been kept under isolation at a hospital.
District officials have reportedly taken measures to carry out surveillance in the area surrounding the patient’s residence, upto a 3 kilometre radius. 60 teams comprising ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife), ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers, doctors and district officials, have been formed to this end.
The first patient was admitted to the Nellore Government General Hospital in the first week of March, after he had recently returned from Italy. The state government had also identified and quarantined five people who came in contact with him, as per protocol. The condition of the man, who had reached Nellore on March 6 from Italy, is stable.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday declared holidays for all educational institutions from Thursday till March 31, as part of efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to review the situation in the state.
Additional Chief Secretary to CM PV Ramesh said the holidays for the educational institutions were declared to strengthen the ongoing measures to prevent and contain COVID-19 in the state.
Unlike Telangana and other states, Andhra Pradesh has not yet announced closure of parks, gyms, clubs or imposed restrictions on marriages and other functions.
As per the bulletin issued on Thursday, the Health Department said that out of 109 samples tested so far, 94 were tested negative while results were awaited for 13 others.
Officials said 22 people were under hospital admissions while 607 were under home isolation. The authorities so far identified 883 people for observation and out of them, 254 completed a 28-day observation period.
The measures taken for controlling coronavirus in the state includes a 24x7 control room (0866-2410978) and 104 help line (Toll free number) for providing health advice on COVID-19. The state government notified the district collectors as district nodal officers for taking measures towards containment and surveillance of COVID-19 in their respective districts.