The temple town of Srikalahasti has tightened lockdown measures after five more people – all police personnel – tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday in the town.
So far, Srikalahasti has recorded around 45 COVID-19 cases, of which at least 14 patients are frontline workers from various government departments. Six police personnel, two secretariat staff and six revenue department staff, who were performing surveyor duties to identify primary and secondary contacts of known COVID-19 patients, as well as identifying symptomatic persons, have tested positive in the town.
“There is complete lockdown now; it’s a curfew like situation. No one is allowed to leave the house even for essential supplies,” Srikalahasti One Town Sub-Inspector Sanjeev Kumar said. Residents have been asked to call helpline numbers in case of emergencies or to request for groceries.
The village or ward volunteers, who are responsible for about 50 households each, have been tasked with delivering essentials to people’s doorsteps. “Stores are allowed to make deliveries but only through the ward secretariat staff,” SI Sanjeev said.
The source of the infection for five people who tested positive on Thursday is unclear, but authorities say that coming into proximity with primary and secondary contacts of known COVID-19 patients would have put the police personnel at risk.
Srikalahasti Deputy Superintendent of Police, Nagendra, said that the police constables who are now infected had been accompanying contacts of COVID-19 patients to hospitals.
As of Thursday, Chittoor district, where Srikalahasti is located, had recorded a total of 73 cases, and is one of the four districts in the state with the highest number of cases. Guntur and Kurnool districts continue to have the most number of COVID-19 affected people in the state.
Addressing the media, Special Chief Secretary (Health) for the state K S Jawahar Reddy said that while the cases in Guntur and Kurnool have remained limited to the demarcated red zones, in Chittoor, seven of the 14 new cases had come from non-red zones, which is cause for concern.