30 COVID-19 cases in Vijayawada have left authorities worried as they have not been able to trace the source of infection yet. Krishna District Collector Md Imtiaz, and Vijayawada Commissioner of Police, Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, said on Saturday to share information regarding untraceable cases and called for increased precaution.
Collector Md Imtiaz said that of the 69 COVID-19 cases recorded in Krishna district as of Saturday, nearly 59 were within Vijayawada city limits.
“When we analyse how people are contracting the disease, at first, it was from people returning from abroad. Then, there were Delhi returnees and their contacts. There were nearly 35 such cases where we were able to conclude how the patient might have contracted the virus. However, recently for nearly 30 cases, we couldn’t trace the source. This is a cause for concern,” the Collector said.
Speaking about the untraceable cases, Commissioner of Police Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said, “There are cases coming up now where the patient says they didn’t go out much, they only went out to buy vegetables etc. In one case, a man had only visited medical shops and hospitals to supply saline bottles. We need to find out how they contracted the disease,” he said.
Both the Commissioner and Collector asked people to abide by the lockdown and to strictly practice social distancing protocols.
“Not following social distancing is the main reason for this. No one is coming out onto the main roads, but in interior areas, we wonder if people are meeting others and visiting other people’s houses, and coming in close contact with each other,” Md Imtiaz said.
Tirumala Rao said that while the first four cases of foreign returnees have recovered, the fifth case of a foreign returnee has been difficult to handle, as it was only reported 28 days after the patient returned from abroad.
“Reporting and testing positive is happening after a big gap in some cases. We cannot think that once 14 days are over, everything is fine,” he said, adding that nearly 10 people around the patient’s residence have contracted COVID-19 within the period that the case was not reported.
With 17 containment zones being marked in Vijayawada as of Saturday, authorities asked people to leave their homes only under inevitable circumstances.
The Commissioner asked youngsters to refrain from coming out of their homes after 9 am. “If they come out unnecessarily, their vehicle will be seized and there will be a criminal case. They will have both police and court record,” he said.
Clarifying that the lockdown relaxations coming into effect from April 20 do not apply to public movement, he asked people not to get into a festive mood.