School children are worst hit in the second wave of COVID-19 in Kurnool and Anantapur districts.
A case in point is the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in Sankar Nagar in Adoni, where 93 students and eight teachers (101 in total) tested positive for the pandemic, resulting in the school being closed for a week. On Sunday, Kurnool registered 729 COVID-19 positive cases and Anantapur 305. Kurnool District tested 3,500 samples and Anantapur 4,318 samples.
Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas held a conference call with the District Medical and Health Doctor on Sunday to discuss steps to isolate the affected students and teachers. District Medical and Health Physician Rama Giddaiah said that when 18 students initially tested positive on the tests taken on April 14, RTPCR tests were taken for all students and staff on April 15, of which 101 tested positive. Deputy DMHO Ranga Naik supervised the tests of students and teachers at Adoni.
All students were sent home with special travel arrangements where they would remain in isolation. Revenue and Development of Kurnool Joint Collector S. Ramsundar Reddy ordered the school to be closed for a week, during which 300 students regularly attend classes. Tests were performed for all suspected primary and secondary contacts. The Kurnool District has 11 hospitals for patients in need of hospitalization.
Anantapur collector Gandham Chandrudu said treatment will begin at RDT Bathalapalli Hospital in addition to the six state hospitals and KIMS Saveera private hospital in Anantapur on Monday. “We have 90% cases in isolation at home, 6% of the cases in Covid Care Centers at JNTU, and the remaining cases in the hospital,” he said.
The district received 45,000 doses of vaccine (39,000 doses of Covishield and 6,000 doses of Covaxin), and priority was given to frontline workers who were uninsured for either the first or second dose.