Until the first week of May, cases focused on municipal businesses in Tirupati and Chittoor
While the COVID situation appeared to have turned a corner in some parts of the country, the daily count in the Chittoor district remained alarming, forcing police personnel to tighten lockdown restrictions.
On Sunday the number of new cases was 2,885, which corresponds to a total of over 1.6 lakh, while the toll was 1,090.
What adds to their concerns is that the spread, which until the first week of May was centered on the municipal enterprises of Tirupati and Chittoor and the Madanapalle parish, has now begun to swiftly engulf all 66 mandals in the district.
The western mandals of Kuppam, V. Kota, Baireddipalle, Palamaner, Punganur and Bangarupalem have been registering new cases in the double-digit range for a week.
Nagari and Puttur mandals, whose daily count was below 20 last week, each recorded over 70 cases on Sunday. Although there was some lull in the eastern mandalas of Satyavedu, Nagalapuram, Pitchatur, KVB Puram and BN Kandriga earlier this month, cases are now gradually increasing.
100 bed hospital
Panchayat Raj Minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy announced on Sunday that the government hospital in Punganur would be converted into a 100-bed COVID hospital on a war basis.
The minister said a truckload of 150 oxygen cylinders is already on its way from Gujarat to Punganur. The facility is expected to be ready to treat critically ill patients by Monday. The number of COVID cases in the constituency of the Punganur assembly, which the minister represents, was close to 300 on Sunday.
Check posts set up
Deputy SP (Law and Order) N. Sudhakar Reddy said that in light of the increasing cases in the corporate boundaries of Chittoor and the surrounding areas, nine checkpoints have been set up at key intersections – Reddigunta, Kajur Circle, MSR Circle, Chowdeswarai Temple, RR -Garden Kanipakam, Santhapeta, LGB Towers, Karumaramma Temple and Darga Circle.