MTC Palem in Visakhapatnam denotified as a containment cluster

Identifying the hot spots of coronavirus has been one of the key factors in the governments’ efforts to contain the spread of the infection. Demarcating these areas as containment clusters, the authorities have been imposing restrictions on the activity and movement in the region surrounding the residence(s) where a positive case is reported. Over the past two months, district authorities in Visakhapatnam too have been marking containment clusters in regions that have reported coronavirus cases. Also, as per the guidelines, if an area does not report COVID-19 case for 28 days, from the detection of the last positive case, it can be denotified as a containment zone. In the latest, the authorities, on Wednesday, denotified MTC Palem as a containment cluster as the area did not witness any new COVID-19 cases over the past 28 days.

As per an official note released on Wednesday, “One of the key strategies in controlling the spread of COVID-19 was to effectively defining and managing the containment clusters along with the buffer area. As per the guidelines, different containment clusters were identified for all the positive cases identified in the district. With reference to the above, a cluster can be denotified or the containment operations shall be deemed to be over 28 days from the discharge of the last confirmed case from the designated health facility. ” The note detailed that the last COVID-19 positive case from MTC Palem was discharged on 29 April. The area did not report a single case thereafter, until 27 May, making it eligible to be denotified as a containment cluster in Visakhapatnam.

Meanwhile, two more patients were recently discharged in Visakhapatnam district after recovering from the virus. The district did not report any COVID-19 cases for two straight days (Tuesday and Wednesday). The total number of cases in Visakhapatnam, as of Wednesday evening, is 99.

Andhra Pradesh, however, saw its COVID-19 tally rise to 2841 with 54 fresh cases being reported as per the bulletin released by the Health Department. on Thursday morning.