Visakhapatnam among 30 districts in India with a rising number of cases

At Least 2,000 Covid-19 cases are being reported in Vizag every day. The number of positive cases since the last two weeks has seen a gradual increase. In a recent review on Covid cases by Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Lav Agarwal IAS, it is learned that Visakhapatnam is among 30 districts in the country witnessing a continuous rise in the number of positive cases for the last two weeks.

As per the data released by the Union Government, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are some of the states which are showing a spike in cases. On May 6, Visakhapatnam reported 2,107 positive cases, taking the total number to 91,220. The steep increase has kept the total district on alert advising citizens not to move out of their houses until there is an emergency. Thanks to the lockdown announced by the government for two weeks, there has been a positive response from the people who are following Covid norms. Two days of the lockdown went down in peace, however many opined that there should be a complete lockdown so that all the offices would go to work from home.

Top district officials including Vizag District Collector Mr. V Vinay Chand, Joint Collectors, GVMC Commissioner Srijana and their families have also been affected by Covid-19. Unfortunately, few members among the teams deployed to monitor covid cases, inspect hospitals to witness the daily situation and staff who are deployed to administer vaccines have tested positive. As per the officials, works on Covid-19 in the city are now taken by the staff who are with no symptoms.

Worry on new strain:

Chairman of AP State Covid Command Control Centre, Dr. KS Jawahar Reddy clarified that WHO [World Health Organization] has declared B.1.617 a ‘Variant of Interest’, originally found in samples from Maharashtra in January 2021. B.1.617 has since been spreading quickly in India. The variant was detected in samples collected from Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Delhi, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana. According to the WHO, this Indian strain has been detected in at least 17 countries, including the UK, US and Singapore.