Prakasam sees steep increase in Covid cases

Ongole: Prakasam district is witnessing steady increase in Covid positive cases.

As the frontline workers are exposed to the infected persons, they are also testing positive for the virus.

The district officials are closely monitoring the status of the cases and ordered the hospitals and Covid care centres to make necessary arrangements.

Last Tuesday, 46 Covid positive cases were registered throughout the district, and the number was doubled to 107 by Thursday. By Monday, the number of Covid positive cases registered in the district rose to 176.

Ongole, Markapur, Addanki, Kanigiri, Kandukur and other mandals are regularly registering a higher number of positive cases on a daily basis.

On Monday, 23 cases were registered under the urban PHC limits of Slate Workers Colony in Markapur, while 19 cases were registered at urban PHC in Yanadi Colony of Ongole, 10 cases in the PP Unit at GGH Ongole. In the cases registered at Markapuram, five people are working in the District Government Hospital in Markapuram.

Markapuram Government Hospital superintendent Sangu Subba Reddy said that two nursing staff, along with sanitation staff were found infected with coronavirus. He said that they are not sending the samples for genome sequencing as they are not having any symptoms.

In the review meeting with the mandal level officials on Monday, Joint Collector TS Chetan ordered them to prepare an action plan to fight Covid third wave.

He ordered the nodal officers to give estimates for the additional facilities, staff and tools for containing and controlling of Covid third wave.

He ordered the staff at Ongole, Markapur, Kandukur and other high incidence places to prepare staff and chemicals for sanitation drives.

He also advised the officials of the 49 Covid hospitals in the district along with other private hospitals to stock D type oxygen cylinders and oxygen concentrators for use in emergencies.