Thirty-eight people who returned to their hometowns Andhra Pradesh from Mumbai have tested positive for COVID-19. State COVID-19 Nodal Officer Arja Srikanth said in a statement that the workers have all been quarantined, and those who tested positive will be provided medical treatment.
The patients are among the 930 migrant workers who recently arrived in a special train from Thane, alighting in Gunthakal town of Anantapur district. Of these 930 people, 250 have been tested for COVID-19 so far, and 38 people have tested positive. One of them is from Kadapa and the remaining 37 patients are from Kurnool district. The Nodal Officer has said that the cluster containment strategy need not be applied to them.
The patients had all been working at a fish market in the Masjid Bunder area of Mumbai. Most of them belong to Anantapur and Kurnool districts.
Tuesday's COVID-19 numbers indicate that Andhra Pradesh appears to be gaining control in its efforts to contain COVID-19 in the state. The state recorded 33 new cases after testing 10,730 samples in the 24 hours ending at 10 am on Tuesday. The positive case numbers on Tuesday are lower than Monday, when the state reported 38 cases.
The majority of the 33 cases reported on Tuesday have a connection with the Koyambedu market in Chennai. The market has been identified as a major factor in the spread of COVID-19 in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. Of the 33 cases announced on Tuesday in Andhra Pradesh, ten in Chittoor district, nine in Nellore district, and one case in East Godavari have been identified as persons who had recently visited the Koyambedu market in Chennai.
Chittoor district reported 10 new cases in total, all of whom have a history of travel to Koyambedu perishable goods market in Chennai. Likewise, all the nine new cases detected in Nellore district have a travel history to Koyambedu. Other districts which reported new cases over the past 24 hours include Kurnool with nine cases, Krishna with four cases and East Godavari, where the lone case has a travel history to Koyambedu.
The death toll in the state increased to 46, with one death reported from the Krishna district.
Even as the cumulative tally in the state touched 2,051 cases on Tuesday, the number of people cured and discharged from hospital has risen to 1,056. On Tuesday too, 58 persons had been discharged, taking the tally of active cases in the state well below to 1000-mark, to 949.
Kurnool district continues to lead with a cumulative tally of 584 cases, even though the active cases are 284. This is followed by Guntur and Krishna districts with 387 and 346 cases respectively.
IANS inputs