Machilipatnam town, the headquarters of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh, has been declared a containment zone as several areas have been put on high alert and the residents have been asked not to step out of their houses at any cost, starting from Sunday, April 5. This, after a patient was tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday.
In a press meet, state Transport and Information and Public Relations Minister Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani), who hails from the same constituency, confirmed that the first case was reported in the town and the residents need to be alert and stay home as a precautionary measure.
Since Sunday (April 5), the entire town is under curfew, and no one should come out of their homes. The usual relaxation in lockdown, which is given from 6 am to 9 am to buy essential commodities, has been withdrawn now, said the minister.
All the major roads and the area around the patient’s house have been also barricaded and no movement is allowed. Police were deployed at every nook and corner to restrict movement.
Residents are being given pamphlets containing numbers for door deliveries and were asked to call those numbers to purchase essential products such as groceries, vegetables and medicines. Public announcements were also being made in the entire town to take precautions.
Areas in Machilipatnam town such as Machavaram, Valandapalem, Chilakapapudi, Sarkar thota, Kobbari thota, Gandhi Nagar, CSR Nagar, Kotha peta, Brahmapuram, NGO’s Colony, Paraspeta, Narasmihanagar, Sukarlabad and others were declared as containment zones, as per the information received from the Machilipatnam Municipal Corporation (MMC).
Additional sanitary measures are underway in these areas.
“People should start taking it seriously at least now,” Minister Perni Venkataramaiah said. Earlier, there were media reports stating that Machilipatnam was not maintaining lockdown and people were seen moving around on the roads.
His contacts are being traced and shifted to a state-run quarantine facility, which is located in the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) office of the town.
In a medical bulletin issued on Sunday morning, Andhra Pradesh reported 34 new COVID-19 cases since Saturday night, with the most cases being reported in Kurnool, at 23.
With this, the state has reported a total of 226 cases and one death. Five people have recovered and have been discharged.