Nellore and Chittoor districts in Andhra Pradesh are bracing for new COVID-19 cases, as the Koyambedu perishable goods market cluster expands beyond Tamil Nadu to these border districts. At least 26 people in Chittoor district, who tested positive for COVID-19, were found to have visited Chennai’s Koyambedu vegetable market in the past 10 days.
In Nellore on the other hand, 9 people who had recently returned from Koyambedu market have been identified, and their test results are awaited, according to Additional District Medical and Health Officer (Addl DMHO) for Nellore district Swarna Latha.
Earlier, four people from Wayanad in Kerala tested positive got the virus and had links to the market. Two of them were drivers who travelled to Koyambedu market, one of the largest wholesale markets in Asia, to transport goods to Kerala.
Speaking to TNM, Chittoor DMHO Chenchulayya said, “In the past ten days, a few vegetable vendors had been travelling to Koyambedu market. They procure vegetables from local farmers and sell at the market. So far, out of the total 112 cases in Chittoor district, 26 patients are related to the Koyambedu cluster. They are all vegetable vendors who had recently visited the market. We have identified around 190 primary and secondary contacts and placed them under quarantine. Efforts are on to identify other vendors who might have gone to Koyambedu.”
The Koyambedu vegetable market in Chennai has emerged as a major hotspot in Tamil Nadu, with at least 1,589 cases in Tamil Nadu being attributed to the market cluster as of Friday.
According to the media bulletin released on Sunday morning, Chittoor district recorded 16 new cases in the past 24 hours, while SPSR Nellore district recorded 5 new cases. Nellore Addl DMHO said that so far, none of the positive cases detected so far are related to the Koyambedu cluster.
With this, the number of active cases in Chittoor now stands at 38, while in Nellore, there are 36 active cases.
The state’s overall tally went up to 1,980, with 50 new cases registered on Sunday.
The official bulletin showed one new COVID-19 death in Kurnool district, taking the death toll to 45. One fatality was reported in Vizianagaram on Saturday, but was not added to the table.
The prime COVID-19 hotspot in the state, Kurnool district maintained its steep curve, adding 13 cases to take its overall tally to 566.
The other hotbeds Guntur and Krishna registered 6 and 1 new cases respectively, while Anantapur saw 5 new cases, and Visakhapatnam recorded one new COVID-19 case.
The total number of patients discharged from hospitals now increased to 925, leaving 1,010 active cases in the state.
With 8,666 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the aggregate rose to 1,73,735 in the state, including 1,71,755 negative, according to the COVID-19 Dashboard.
At a review meeting between Chief Minister Jagan and state health department officials on Saturday, the spread of Koyambedu cluster into the border districts was discussed.
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With PTI and IANS inputs