Tirupati: 11 Ajmer Sharif Dargah returnees test Covid Positive

Tirupati: Chittoor district administration faced yet another Covid threat, this time in the form of Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan which added 11 new cases on Friday to the list of 14 Koyambedu contacts.

This has taken the district score of Covid cases to 176 and the number of active cases to 99 with 77 patients getting discharged.

However, the official Covid media bulletin issued by the State government has mentioned only 14 cases by showing the 11 Ajmer contacts under Rajasthan quota which takes the total cases to 165. In fact, government's swift action of sending all 77 returnees from Azmer Sharif Dargah to institutional quarantine has helped in preventing further spread of the virus to others in their respective places.

As they were continuing in quarantine centre since their arrival, officials have decided that there is no need of declaring any Red Zones.

According to DM & HO Dr M Penchalaiah all the 77 pilgrims from Ajmer Sharif Dargah were kept under institutional quarantine at Golden Valley School in Angallu near Madanapalle. All of them were tested for Covid and 11 of them reported positive and they have been sent to district Covid hospital in Chittoor.

The 77 pilgrims have gone for worshipping at Ajmer Dargah. They visited the place on March 16 and made arrangements for their return journey on March 27. Following implementation of the lockdown, they were stranded there and desperately looking for a way out to reach the district.

Government has brought them back by arranging two buses on May 10 and sent them directly to quarantine. In fact, this episode has underlined the need for sending all persons arriving from other States and countries to institutional quarantine which can help control the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Further continuing its attack on the district, more Covid positive cases with Koyambedu contacts have been coming into light every day in sizeable number.

Of the 14 new cases, except two vendors who have travelled from Koyambedu, all other 12 cases are either primary or secondary contacts of those who travelled to Koyambedu and tested positive earlier. On the whole, Covid cases having Koyambedu links have spread to 16 mandals in one week time.