Srikakulam: Vendors demand relocation of coronavirus sample collection centre
Samples collecting from a person through mobile unit at Srikakulam
Srikakulam: The health officials opened a corona samples collection centre at the Government Arts College campus in Srikakulam city on Sunday and are planning to collect samples from suspected persons from Monday onwards.
In the college campus, previously Rythu Bazar and market yard were arranged on temporary basis in the wake of Covid-induced lockdown and to maintain distance between shops and customers. Now, the vegetable and essential goods' vendors and customers are expressing fear over arrangement of sample collection centre for Covid tests on the same premises.
Every day about 50 shops will be opened here and around 1,000 customers will frequent the campus from 6 am to 1 pm as part of regular transactions in the wake of lockdown. They are expressing fear over possible spread of Covid among them with the sample collection centre, where the suspected people are started coming from Monday onwards for giving samples.
"We wish to represent our objection to the officials concerned on arrangement of sample collection centre here on Monday," vegetable vendors at the arts college campus M Appa Rao, P Sai Kumar, A Rama Rao and others told The Hans India.
If the officials decided to continue the sample collection centre here, we will stop our sales here and will shift to another area, the vendors told to this newspaper.
"We are purchasing vegetables and other essentials from the temporary market arranged at government arts college campus. On learning about arrangement of sample collection centre for Covid tests here, we are worried over possible spread of virus and will not visit the campus," P Sriram Murthy, Ch Nagabhushan Rao, A Umamaheswara Rao and other customers expressed their fear.
They demanded the officials either to shift the temporary market to another place or to stop sample collection centre for Covid tests. If officials wished to continue both market and sample collection centre in the same campus, it will cause more Covid positive cases, they opined.
"Government Arts College is having wide campus and more number of buildings, we do not have alternative to it and requesting people to cooperate by following restrictions," district medical and health officer (DM&HO) Dr M Chenchayya, district surveillance officer for Covid cases Dr Bagadi Jagannadha Rao and Srikakulam municipal commissioner P Nallanayya stated.