Andhra Pradesh on Sunday reported first case of local transmission of COVID-19 as a woman, a close contact of a man tested positive earlier, was found infected. With this, the total number of Covid-19 cases rose to six in the state.
The 49-year-old was a close contact of 65-year-old male patient, who had returned from Saudi Arabia. The man had reached Hyderabad Airport from Saudi Arabia and then travelled to Visakhapatnam on March 12. He was admitted to Government Chest Hospital Visakhapatnam on March 17 and tested positive.
Authorities were Sunday trying to trace the contacts of two other men who were tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.
They had recently returned from Paris and London a few days ago and stayed with their families before approaching hospital.
A 22-year-old man from East Godavari district tested positive for coronavirus. He landed in Hyderabad from London on March 18 and the same day, reached Rajahmundry by road.
The second patient is from Vijayawada. The 24-year-old had landed in Delhi from Paris on March 15. He then boarded a flight to Hyderabad and reached Vijayawada by road on March 17. He approached the hospital with complaints of dry cough and fever.
Both the patients were admitted to Government General Hospital, Kakinada. Earlier, a case each was reported from Visakhapatnam, Prakasam and Nellore districts. All the patients had returned from other countries.
Meanwhile, the first patient was discharged from a hospital in Nellore on Sunday. The man who had returned from Italy was admitted to hospital on March 9. His family members, however, tested negative.
The patient was discharged after the repeated samples on March 21 and 22 were found negative.
Officials said universal screening was on for the passengers reaching Visakhapatnam International Airport and sea ports. A total of 11,640 passengers and crew have so far been screened at these ports of entry.
The health authorities have so far tested 164 samples. Out of them, 142 samples tested negative while the result was awaited in case of 16 others.
The state government announced closure of its inter-state borders for public transport with Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy saying that the state was moving towards a lockdown till March 31.
Chief Minister YS Jagan MohanReddy asked people to stay at home at least for 14 days. Prohibitory orders would be put in place to restrain grouping of people in public but all businesses delivering essentials like groceries, milk, fuel, medicines, would run, he said.
The government would evaluate the situation on March 31 and take further course of action, the Chief Minister said at a press conference.
With IANS and PTI inputs