Officials in Chittoor worried as Koyambedu-linked cases spread in border villages

Police instructed to mount vigil at checkposts and prevent unauthorised movement of people

Police personnel providing food packets to migrant workers at Punganur in Chittoor district on Monday.

Chittoor district on Monday registered 15 new COVID-19 positive cases, with 12 of them linked with traders of the Koyambedu vegetable market in Chennai. With this, the total number of cases stood at 192, doubled in just a week.

The new cases surfaced from Nagalapuram with 7 persons testing positive, followed by Satyavedu(3) and one each from Pichatur and Ramakuppam. The temple town of Srikalahasti registered five new cases, which are not linked to the market.

What’s worrying the officials is that the market-linked cases are not concentrated to a single area, but are spread among villages along the 200 km border that the district shares with Tamil Nadu, right from Satyavedu in the east to V.Kota in the west. It is interesting to note that while the western mandals in the district export the vegetables to Koyambedu market, the eastern ones import the stocks from the market.

Due to the rising numbers, rural life in the eastern mandals has come to a grinding halt. While Nagalapuram mandal registered 20 cases, V. Kota mandal registered 19.

DIG (Anantapur) Kanthi Rana Tata and Superintendent of Police S. Senthil Kumar went on a three-day inspection of the red zones at Satyavedu, Nagalapuram, Pichatur, Chittoor and V.Kota mandals, and instructed the mandal level personnel to keep a strict vigil along the border areas and check posts to prevent unauthorized movement of public.

Meanwhile, six cases, in the age group of 9-50, from different mandals were discharged from the Padmavati COVID hospital in Tirupati on Monday.

Survey to be intensified

At Matsyam village of Tavanampalle mandal, twelve persons had undergone testing. Much to the relief of the officials, all the cases turned negative. Four days ago, this village registered one positive case linked to Koyambedu market.

In the recent past, Chittoor district has witnessed unrelenting spike in COVID cases linked with the vegetable market in Chennai, that has emerged as the hotbed of infections. However, on May 17, for the first time in a week, none of the cases was related to Koyambedu. But no sooner had this raised hopes of situation easing in the district than the next set of cases emerged on Monday.

District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) M. Penchalaiah said that the number of patients recovering and getting discharged is increasing. “As per instructions from the State officials, we are going to intensify COVID survey at all apartments in the urban areas,” he said.