ONGOLE: Authorities are said to have identified around 280 people hailing from Prakasam district who attended a religious congregation at Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi recently.
The development came after some who attended the gathering tested positive for covid-19.
After an elderly couple from Chirala tested positive for the virus recently, measures were taken to increase the number of quarantine camps and strengthen the field-level workers.
As many as 110 of the around 280 people were identified and shifted to the isolation wards in RIMS-Ongole and area hospitals in Marakapur and Chirala.
Their swab and blood samples were collected and sent to the virology laboratory in Tirupati. Teams of police and other officials were now focussing on tracing the remaining 170 persons who recently returned from Delhi.
Meanwhile, 75 teams were deployed for door-to-door survey in Chirala-Nawabpeta area; three rapid response teams were formed for immediate response if suspected cases were identified.
Municipal and health staff also took up sanitation drive with sodium hypochloride and bleaching powder. The teams would continue surveying for the next 14 days.
The authorities were also mulling to utilise the services of science teachers of government schools. Last week, district collector P Bhaskar had inquired about the strength of teachers with district education officer (DEO) VS Subba Rao.
He told the DEO that, if needed, the government would utilise the services of these teachers at quarantine facilities and for creating awareness on covid-19. Even education minister Adimulapu Suresh had previously said, headmasters and education department employees would be engaged in the fight against covid-19, if necessary.
On Monday, Ministers Balineni Srinivasa Reddy and Suresh conducted a review meeting with the district officials about the precautionary measures being taken in the wake of covid-19. The ministers appealed to the public to strictly follow the restrictions imposed during the lockdown, “which was the only way to curb the spread of the pandemic”.
Action plan on the measures to be taken highly-vulnerable Chirala-Nawabpeta area was also discussed.