COVID-19 positivity rate jumps to 4.38% in Vishakhapatnam

VISAKHAPATNAM: Vishakhapatnam district administration stepped up Covid testing even as the city recorded 33 active cases with a positivity rate touching 4.38% on Wednesday. Speaking to TNIE, District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) P Jagadeeswara Rao said that they have ramped up RT-PCR testing as per ICMR guidelines. “We have been conducting more than 200 tests as specified by ICMR. Of the 273 rapid tests that were conducted on Wednesday, 11 tested positive. Similarly, six tested positive on Tuesday. As many as 31 patients are in home isolation, while two have been undergoing treatment at hospital,” he said.   

Meanwhile, panic gripped the city after reports emerged that a 21-year-old suspected Covid patient had died. Later, it was learnt that the youth, who was admitted at King George Hospital, died due to co-morbidities. The RT-PCR test results that were received after his death were found to be negative.

According to King George Hospital superintendent P Ashok Kumar, the youth was admitted to KGH on Monday after he tested positive Covid at a primary healthcare centre. “When the youth reported high fever, he was immediately shifted to isolation ward of KGH where RT-PCR test was conducted on him. He died on Tuesday.” 

KGH ARMO Aruna said that a 10-year-old girl from children’s welfare home was admitted to KGH after she tested positive for Covid on Wednesday. Experiencing breathlessness, she was admitted to the isolation ward. The Covid test results are expected on Thursday morning. Meanwhile, all the children at the children’s welfare home tested negative, she added. She said there are 21 persons, including 10 pregnant woman, who tested Covid positive, have been isolated in the respective wards. There is a four-month-old baby, who is undergoing treatment for Covid at KGH.