COVID spurt in Anantapur; blame on Karnataka
Many cases with respiratory issues probably due to post Covid complications are being reported, they are not treated as Covid cases
ANANTAPUR: Even as many districts in the state continued without any new infections of Covd-19, Anantapur has been reporting the maximum number of cases for the past few days. A total of 49 cases were recorded in the state on Sunday, of which a majority were from Anantapur. The town's linkages with Karnataka are suspected to be a reason for this spurt.
Kurnool, which was a major outbreak centre for the epidemic since March 2020, has effected a turnaround and there are no fresh daily cases anymore. So with Kadapa, Nellore and Vizianagaram districts. Other districts including Chittoor, Visakhapatnam and Krishna have been reporting lesser number of cases.
On Sunday, Anantapur district reported 19 Covid positive cases while West Godavari reported eight cases and East Godavari, Srikakulam and Guntur five cases.
Though, Chittooor saw high numbers of infections for several months, there on Sunday was only one case in areas including Tirupati.
Even East Godavari reported a large number of cases -- 3.16 lakh – while the total figure for Anantapur was confined to 1.77 lakh. But, the scenario looked worse in the past few days. Medical and health authorities said a collection of samples from different parts including the border areas may show a rise in the number of positive cases.
Many cases with respiratory issues probably due to post Covid complications are being reported, they are not treated as Covid cases. For instance, a person with respiratory problems was shifted to a private nursing home in Anantapur town and was tested positive for Covid-19. But doctors reportedly told the family members that they were unable to diagnose the complication.
In addition, there random collection of samples has not been on proper lines, from travellers from Karnataka to Anantapur. There are more than 15 border roads that link Anantapur with Karnataka.
An official from the health department said there was no collection of samples even at NH Roads at border areas and this leads to an increase in the number of positive cases.