The Andhra Pradesh government has ordered the closure of cinema halls, malls and major places of worship in the state till March 31, to avoid large gatherings as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus. All educational institutions in the state were already ordered to shut down on Wednesday.
The announcement came in the wake of the second positive case of COVID-19 in the state coming to light. A 24-year-old man who had recently returned to Ongole on March 15, from London, tested positive for coronavirus, the government announced on Thursday morning. Earlier, a man in Nellore town who had returned from Italy on March 6, had tested positive.
The major places of worship to be closed will include the Tirumala temple, as well as the Srisailam and Simhachalam temples, said Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas, Minister of Health, Family Welfare and Medical Education of Andhra Pradesh, addressing the media on Thursday. The Minister also issued several advisories to the public, following a high-level review meeting of the health department officials with Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. Krishna Srinivas requested people to postpone any weddings planned in the coming days, and if inevitable, to conduct them with small gatherings. He also advised bars, restaurants and other commercial establishments which are to remain open, to maintain a minimum distance of one metre between tables, to maintain hygiene in the surroundings and to make sanitisers available to customers.
He asked the transport department to discourage passengers from overcrowding the vehicles. The Minister also requested IT employees who can afford to work from home to do so.
Krishna Srinivas said that the government is implementing precautionary measures in a phased manner, and will take further decisions based on the severity of the situation.
Detailing the measures for screening taken by the state government, he said, “We have received information from the Central government on people who have returned from foregin countries to our state. So far, at least 94% of these people have been identified.” He also said that so far, around 12,000 people who have returned from other countries to the state have been traced, and those among them who displayed symptoms of COVID-19 have been kept under home quarantine and medical observation.
“Nearly 80% of the households in the state have been surveyed through ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) and ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers, to find out if anyone in the house has recently returned from abroad. Action will be taken against anyone who refuses to cooperate in the process,” he said.
So far, 3 labs in the state are equipped for testing samples for coronavirus -- in Vijayawada, Kakinada and Tirupati, while a fourth one in Anantapur will be ready soon, he said.
He also stated that isolation wards have been set up in every district hospital and teaching hospital.
As of Thursday morning, the Andhra Pradesh government had tested 109 samples for coronavirus, of which 2 had come back positive, 94 tested negative and results were awaited for 13. Six hundred and seven people were under home isolation, while 22 people were under observation in a hospital.
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