Andhra Pradesh on alert mode with early signs of Covid-19 resurgence

The Covid-19 pandemic had disproportionately burdened the state’s health care system in 2020. However, the state managed to flatten the curve of this highly transmittable respiratory disease by the third quarter of last year.

The state’s working relationship with researchers, and sticking to the scientific advocacy helped it make a clear turnaround in terms of the pandemic management and control. Continuing the trend, the state recorded only 0.25% case positivity rate in February.

This is the lowest ever case positivity rate for a month since the beginning of the outbreak in Andhra Pradesh – January 2021 (0.4%), December 2020 (0.8%), November (2.2%), October (5.8%), September (12.4%), August (16.6%), July (6.5%), June (2.1%), May (1.1%), April (1.5%) and March (5%).

But the early signs of the resurgence of the pandemic are evident with the gradual increase in daily cases in the last one week. The state recorded 118 new cases on Saturday, the highest single-day total in the last one month.

Several states like Telangana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, and West Bengal have been reporting a spike in the daily new cases. The Centre asked the states to maintain a rigorous vigil to contain the spread and not to squander away the gains of the collective work of the last year.

Dr K Rambabu, AP Covid-19 nodal officer, told TOI that a surge has been noted in Chittoor district for the last few days, while there has been a slight increase in daily cases in Guntur and Visakhapatnam districts. “Instructions have been issued to DMHOs and other officials on effective surveillance and testing, comprehensive tracking, prompt isolation, etc. The department has also been constantly tracking the number of cases being admitted to ICU or availing home isolation to get an idea of the situation. Focus is also on increasing the vaccination coverage,” said Dr Rambabu.

The Centre has deputed high-level multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir to ascertain reasons for the surge. The teams would coordinate with the state health departments in Covid-19 control and containment measures.