GUNTUR: Guntur district recorded 468 new cases of the coronavirus, the highest in a single day, on Wednesday, pushing its overall count to 3,924. While 235 fresh infections were registered in Guntur city alone, Tadepalli, Narasaraopet and Tenali reported spikes of 70, 36 and 28 cases, respectively, followed by 26 in Piduguralla and Mangalagiri each, 20 in Dachepalli, 17 in Sattenapalli and 10 each in Macherla and Pedakakani. At present, the number of active cases in the district is 2,063.
As many as 1,869 patients were discharged from hospitals after their recovery and 32 people fell victim to Covid-19. With the spike in corona cases, the district authorities have decided to impose lockdown in Gurazala revenue division from Thursday, covering Macherla, Piduguralla, Gurazala and Dachepalli towns, Machavaram, Veldurthi, Durgi, Vijayapuri South, Karampudi and other mandals. Addressing a press conference at the municipal office in Piduguralla on Wednesday, RDO J Parthasarathy said the lockdown would be enforced in the division for a week to curb the spread of coronavirus. Shops will be allowed to open from 6 to 9 am only to enable people to purchase essential commodities.
Medical and fertiliser shops have been exempted from lockdown restrictions, he said. The RDO directed officials to enforce lockdown curbs in the entire division strictly. He appealed to people to take all precautionary measures as advised by the government to protect themselves from coronavirus. Stern action will be taken against violators of lockdown restrictions, the RDO added.