High alert in AP as first case reported in Vijayawada

Vijayawada: High alert was sounded in Vijayawada on Sunday with the first the first coronavirus positive case being reported on Saturday night.

The city police clamped Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC on Sunday, banning the assembly of more than five persons. It remains in force till March 31.

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old student, who returned from Paris via New Delhi and Hyderabad, tested positive to Covid-19. He started suffering from fever on March 17/18 and was in self-isolation at home located in One Town.

With symptoms of coronavirus, he informed the Medical and Health Department about his condition. Tests were conducted on March 19 and it was confirmed that he tested positive for Covid-19 on March 21.

The news spread in the city that first positive case had been reported. He was admitted to the isolation ward in Vijayawada Government General Hospital and he has been undergoing treatment.

The Municipal Corporation, Medical and Health and the police departments swung into action and took measures to conduct medical tests on 500 persons in the vicinity of area where the infected foreign returnee lives.

The student stayed with his parents and brother since March 17. District collector Md Imtiaz, Police Commissioner Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, Municipal Commissioner Venkatesh Prasanna held a review meet and announced that necessary steps are being taken to check the spread of the virus.

Tirumala Rao said the police had identified the cab in which the student travelled from Hyderabad to Vijayawada. The police had collected information on how many persons met the infected persons at his residence since he came to Vijayawada and the details of the family members he met.

The police also noticed that three persons boarded the car in the return journey from Vijayawada to Hyderabad and alerted the Telangana government.