NELLORE: Cinema theatres in Nellore city, where the first positive case of COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh was reported, were shut down on Friday as a precautionary measure to prevent mass gatherings. All the eight theatres in the city will remain closed till Saturday.
Theatre operators said they have closed down following an appeal from the district collector MV Seshagiri Babu and will decide on the future course of action on Saturday evening.
On Thursday, a post-graduate student who returned from Italy to Nellore and was quarantined in the Government General Hospital tested positive for COVID-19. As a precautionary measure, the district administration had appealed against mass gatherings.
Though the managements of both private and government schools contemplated closing them, as the examinations are on hand, they decided to run them but taking every precautionary measure.
Meanwhile, the condition of the patient who tested positive is reported to be stable and the health of the other student who returned from Italy but tested negative is also stable. Health officials are awaiting the results of the samples of five more people who returned from Italy and were quarantined in their respective houses. The samples were sent to the Virology Research and Diagnostic Laboratory in Tirupati.
Special Chief Secretary (Medical, Health, and Family Welfare) KS Jawahar Reddy said every house within a one-kilometre radius of the house of the patient in Nellore who tested positive for COVID-19 has been inspected. He clarified that there were no other cases anywhere in the state till date.
“Every precautionary measure is being taken. Isolation wards have been set up in 56 government hospitals in 13 districts. In private hospitals also, a total of 300 beds have been set aside for quarantine purposes,” he said.
Meanwhile, a passenger who returned from Germany and suffering from cold/cough was screened at Gannavaram Airport in Vijayawada on Thursday and asked to get quarantined in his own house in Vijayawada, after an initial medical checkup at the Government General Hospital.
Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has started screening pilgrims visiting the holy hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at the Alipiri Tollgate itself using thermal guns. Special medical camps have been organized to screen the pilgrims.