Covid rising in India again? 12 cases, 4 deaths reported in AP: How an unlinked spike is puzzling officials

Twelve people in Andhra Pradesh have tested positive for COVID-19 between June 26 and July 16, and four of them have died, according to the state's Health Department. What's unusual isn't the number, it's the map. The cases are spread thin across four districts with no single outbreak zone, which is why officials have now sent five samples off to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune to find out exactly which variant is doing the rounds.

It's a small story on its own, but it sits inside a much bigger one. India has logged 339 COVID cases since July 1, and Kerala alone makes up close to a third of that number. Andhra Pradesh's contribution is tiny by comparison, yet the scattered, almost random way the virus has shown up here is what's holding officials' attention right now.

Covid Cases in AP: How the Spread Began

The state's first case of the year turned up in Kadapa district on June 26. Nothing much happened for a few days. Then, between July 1 and July 16, eleven more people tested positive. Two of them had a direct link to earlier patients, they were close contacts, but the rest appeared to have no connection to one another at all.

The Vizag Case Nobody Was Looking For

One of those cases showed up almost by accident, in Visakhapatnam. KGH Hospital Superintendent Dr Vani explains that a patient walked into a general physician's clinic for a routine consultation, not suspecting anything unusual. The doctor noticed symptoms that looked like COVID-19 and sent the patient off to a private lab for testing. The lab's result came back positive. To be sure, officials sent the same sample to KGH Hospital for a second opinion, and the hospital's test confirmed it all over again.

Four Covid Deaths, One Common Thread

The deaths are the part that worries families the most, and here the picture is a little clearer. Health Secretary and Commissioner of Health & Family Welfare Veera Pandiyan says all four people who died were already dealing with serious health problems, hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, and other major illnesses, before COVID entered the picture. Three of the four were from Kadapa district, and one was from Kakinada.

Covid Cases Numbers, District by District

Kadapa carries the biggest share of cases at eight, followed by Guntur with two, and Visakhapatnam and Kakinada with one each. Health officials are quick to point out that these cases came from different mandals and different localities, not one crowded neighbourhood, which is exactly why they're hesitant to call it a cluster.

Testing tells its own story too. Between June 26 and July 15, the state ran 67 COVID tests, of which 11 came back positive. The twelfth case didn't even show up in Andhra Pradesh's own testing, a patient from Kakinada district tested positive at CMC Vellore in Tamil Nadu, and that result was added to the state's tally.

Of the twelve patients, three are currently isolating at home and two remain in hospital. Three others have already recovered and gone home. The remaining four are the ones who did not survive.

Covid Patient Samples Sent to Pune

On July 9, five samples from the affected patients were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for genome sequencing. The goal is simple: identify which variant is behind this round of infections, since that detail hasn't been confirmed yet.

Officials Says No Need to Panic

Meanwhile, officials have said that there is no reason for the public to panic, however, they advised people to follow basic precautions. Every hospital, doctor, and healthcare worker across the state has already been alerted and told to stay on standby, the officials told ANI.

Across the county, Kerala leads the country with 115 Covid cases since July 1, followed by Karnataka at 64, Maharashtra at 43, and Tamil Nadu at 39. The Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Delhi have reported 18 cases each, Rajasthan has 12, and the rest are scattered thinly across other states, much like Andhra Pradesh's own numbers, spread out rather than piled up.

(Inputs from ANI)