Krishna COVID-19 toll up to 175, Machilipatnam to come under curbs
VIJAYAWADA: Eleven more persons succumbed to Covid-19 in Krishna district, taking the toll to 175. As many as 379 more persons contracted the virus in the last 24 hours, pushing the count to 7,579. The district has 2,540 active cases now and 4,864 people recovered so far.
A total of 136 persons were discharged from Covid hospitals between 9 am on Saturday and 9 am on Sunday.
On July 29, Transport Minister Perni Venkataramaiah announced that a total lockdown would be enforced in Machilipatnam revenue division to contain the spread of the virus.
However, the Centre issued guidelines for Unlock 3.0 to resume operation of various sectors. Tahsildar NSK Khajavali on Sunday issued orders revising the lockdown order issued earlier.
He said strict containment measures will be implemented in the places where more active cases were reported in the Machilipatnam Municipal Corporation (MMC) limits from August 3 to 9.
A total of 599 corona cases have been reported so far in the division, which includes Machilipatnam Urban and Rural, Challapalli and Nagayalanka mandals. As on Sunday, Machilipatnam Urban has 278 active cases, followed by rural (41), Challapalli (30) and Nagayalanka (30).
According to the orders, from Monday, essential commodities like vegetables, groceries and agriculture related shops, will be opened from 6 am to 9 am. Public transport, including inter division bus services (APSRTC) will not be permitted during normal hours except transport to and from hospitals, airports and railway stations.
Banking services will be available for the public from 7 am to 9 am. But bank employees should attend their duties from 7 to 11 am. Banks should be closed by 11 am in all the containment areas.
Speaking at a task force meeting held on Sunday, Khajavali said that exemptions were given for police, health, revenue, urban local bodies, fire, electricity, water, municipal services, ATM and media personnel.
Containment measures will be enforced strictly in Challapalli and Nagayalanka and a decision will be taken for the remaining mandals, considering the severity of the virus spread.
If any individual found violating the containment measures, stern action will be initiated against him under IPC (45 of 1860), he said.
Divisional Covid-19 Officer Balasubramanyam said that except Wednesday, TrueNat tests will be conducted at the district government hospital and samples will be collected at the Chief Minister Health Care Centres and Primary Health Centres. He called upon people with suspected coronavirus symptoms to undergo tests at the earliest to curb the spread of Covid-19.