ONGOLE: With several coronavirus infectees going ‘missing’ after giving their samples for testing, the Prakasam district adminstration is in a fix. It is now seeking help from the police to trace the infectees as they might spread the virus to others.
Sources in the medical and health department said about 800 people who tested positive for coronavirus had given wrong addresses and phone numbers, and staff are now trying to locate them. “We have lodged police complaints against about 150 people who intentionally provided wrong addresses and phone numbers. We will lodge complaints against the others as well,” said Dr L John Richards, Covid-19 nodal officer.He added that if people who are to be under home quarantine are found outdoors, the concerned PHC medical officer, ANM and volunteers will be held responsible and face action.
Sources said that in most cases people provide wrong addresses when they arrive for testing, and when the result returns positive, it is difficult to track them. “In two such cases, volunteers managed to track the infectees, though with much difficulty. The infectees confessed that they intentionally gave wrong addresses due to the stigma, fearing that our staff would visit their houses,” the sources said.Prakasam district witnessed a surge of cases in the past few weeks, with its tally crossing 45,000 on Friday. A total of 445 people have succumbed to the virus in the district.
District Collector P Bhaskar reportedly expressed anger over the issue and directed the authorities to register complaints against those who are not available at the addresses or phone numbers they provided at the time of testing.
District medical staff are conducting nearly 6,500 tests each day. Some people who gave their samples at these mobile testing centres provided wrong addresses and phone numbers. On the other hand, details of people who approached private hospitals for Covid-19 tests are also not available. Sources said some infectees are also not following the home isolation guidelines.“We have ordered all private hospitals to give us the details of all infectees they identified. We also asked for the daily particulars of tests,” Dr K Padmavathi, DMHO, said.