Adoni town in Kurnool district has emerged as a new hotspot for COVID-19, with more than 200 cases recorded as of Friday, according to officials. Kurnool has been the worst-affected district in the state, with the highest number of patients and deaths. Most of the initial cases were attributed to people who had returned from Delhi back in March, and many of them were centered in Kurnool town.
Adoni town has been under lockdown since Monday, as more and more patients tested positive for the coronavirus. According to Adoni Municipal Council Commissioner Subba Rao, the town has registered around 215 COVID-19 cases. This amounts to nearly 40 % of the active patients in Kurnool district as of Friday.
Twenty medical workers at the Adoni Mother and Child Hospital (MCH), including doctors, nurses and paramedical staff, have also contracted COVID-19. MCH Superintendent Madhavi Latha said that the rest of the staff have tested negative and have returned to their duties. The source of infection at the hospital has not been determined, she said.
Commissioner Subba Rao said that the usual containment measures previously present during lockdown are back in place in the town. “People are allowed to step out for essential commodities only between 6 am and 9 am, while wearing masks and maintaining physical distance,” he said, adding that the situation will be reviewed over the weekend by revenue department officials, to decide whether the lockdown can be relaxed.
Speaking about the source of the infections, the Commissioner said that a few vehicle drivers had recently returned from Koyambedu and that some of their contacts were among the COVID-19 patients. “There were also many people who returned on foot from other districts and states, from places like Mumbai. It’s likely that they were missed by the COVID-19 screening processes in place for people returning from other states and were not under quarantine,” he said, adding that no COVID-19 cases were recorded in the town prior to the current surge.
On Friday, Andhra Pradesh recorded 465 new COVID-19 cases, of which 376 patients are local residents while the others have returned from other places after the beginning of the lockdown. With this, Andhra Pradesh has recorded 7,961 COVID-19 cases in total, with 3,960 active patients. Ninety-six people have lost their lives to the disease, while 3,905 people have recovered.