Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister K Narayanaswamy went into home quarantine on Sunday after some personnel in his security staff tested positive for the coronavirus.
The security personnel, who were posted at his residence in Puttur, have been admitted to a hospital in Tirupati and tests were conducted on the senior leader and his family.
Appealing to the public to follow all norms of physical distancing and other COVID-19 guidelines, he said that he would remain under home quarantine for a short period, as a precautionary measure.
Meanwhile, in another incident in Visakhapatnam, the famous Sri Kanaka Mahalakshmi temple at Burujupeta shut down on Sunday after three of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus.
According to reports, tests were conducted on all staff working in the temple on Friday, following which the results returned on Monday. Thorough sanitisation of the premises is being undertaken. As adequate precaution was taken, authorities said that there was no reason for devotees to worry.
Andhra Pradesh's COVID-19 tally witnessed yet another massive spike on Sunday, with 813 new cases reported from various parts of the state. The update, which included returnees from other states and overseas, took the overall tally to 13,098 in the state.
The tally of recovered persons is 5,908 while 7,021 persons are currently being treated at different hospitals in Andhra Pradesh.
The death toll also climbed up significantly on Sunday, with 12 persons reported dead. The latest update takes the state death toll to 169. Of the 12 deaths reported on Sunday, six occurred in Kurnool district, five were reported from the Krishna district, and one death was reported from the West Godavari district.
On Sunday, 12 of the 13 districts reported fresh cases during the preceding 24 hours. Kadapa reported the highest tally of 111 cases followed by Kurnool with 103, and Guntur with 90 cases. Some of the other districts with high incidence include Chittoor with 82 cases, and Krishna with 79 cases. Srikakulam district was the lone district where not even a single new case was detected during the preceding 24 hours.