Anantapur sees uptick in Covid cases

Anantapur: Covid-19 appears to be raising its ugly head once again in the district with the dawn of New Year. During the past 24 hours about 30 fresh Covid cases had been registered bringing the total number of cases to 70. The positive cases in the district is proportionate with the sudden surge in cases in AP as well as at the national level.

After a lull in cases for over two months, the virus is staging a comeback in the district with the registering of cases since the last week of December including 3 Omicron cases. Since the detection of Omicron cases after Christmas in the district in foreign returned locals, the district administration including the medical and health department has woken up to the Omicron cases prompting them to issue a red alert and keeping the hospitals in a state of alertness. The police too intensified its 'wear mask' campaign and imposing penalties on mask-less pillion riders.

Presently only 30 per cent of the population particularly the educated class only are wearing masks. Hotels, cinema theatres, shops and establishments and schools and colleges are lethargic regarding mask wearing. Of course, signboards 'no mask no entry' can be seen in business establishments, but nobody seemed to be taking it as serious.

The sudden surge in cases has woken up many from sleep. Many are not really taking Covid-19 as they had been vaccinated and are on the safe zone. The district registered 1,100 deaths on account of Covid-19 last year. There is also a section of people, who believe that the number of Covid cases are more than being projected for the simple reason that that there is no tab on them at the PHC level. More ever the seriousness of virus is missing and people suffering with cold cough and throat pain are also being branded as mild Covid cases.

Hundreds of software employees of the district working in Bengaluru are working from home and in the context of the talk of third wave of Covid virus, the software employees are likely to continue working from home even in 2022. The Central University of Andhra Pradesh (CUAP) for more than a year is conducting only online classes. In the context of increasing cases and Omicron in the district, the online classes concept will continue up to April 2022, according to varsity sources.

The district administration has stepped up vigil on the entry of foreigners into the district as well as the NRIs and local students studying in China and Phillipines etc. Besides foreign devotees of Sathya Sai Baba and visitors from Spain and European countries come to RDT for brief sojourn in RDT campus. Meanwhile, District Collector Nagalakshmi Selvarajan has appealed to the people against negligence and carelessness in the context of Omicron variant surfacing in different parts of the world. Nagalakshmi said people should be extra careful and the threat of a third wave.

She said people had become careless after the second wave subsided and the medical and health workers too took it easy after the decline of second wave. In the context of Omicron said to be a dangerous variant surfacing, we need to wake up although there are no Omicron cases in India. She said that vaccination drive should be activated and ensure vaccination of general populace. While 90 percent were given first dose of vaccination only 63 percent were given second dose. Everyday, at least 6,000 a day Covid tests should be conducted.