New cases leave Telangana, Karnataka and A.P. in the red

Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh adds 30 cases; relief in Kerala as it stays clear

04/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,HYDERABAD

Andhra Pradesh reported 58 new COVID-19 positive cases, and Telangana 21 new cases on Sunday. No fresh cases were recorded in Kerala but after several days of low case numbers, Karnataka had 34 cases.

The tally in Andhra Pradesh rose to 1,583, but no deaths were reported. Most of the new cases reported on Sunday were from the red zone districts of Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna. Kurnool alone had 30 fresh cases while Guntur and Krishna reported 11 and eight cases respectively. Anantapur had seven and Chittoor and Nellore two fresh cases each.

Also on the same day, 47 persons were discharged from hospital following recovery. The data on those discharged were: Guntur 18; Chittoor 13; Kurnool 11; East Godavari 3; and Krishna 2. So far, 488 patients, or 31% of total positive cases recovered and 33 patients (2% of the total cases) died.

Cumulative data for the State were: Kurnool 466 cases, Guntur and Krishna 319 and 266 cases, Nellore (91), Kadapa (83), Chittoor (81), Anantapur (78), Prakasam (61), West Godavari (59), East Godavari (45), Visakhapatnam (29) and Srikakulam (5).

Kurnool, inching closer to the 500 mark reported nearly 30% of the State’s positive cases. The State had so far tested 1,14,937 samples.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Telangana rose to 1,082. While 20 cases were from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation area, one was from Jagtial. Of the people in isolation wards, 46 were discharged after recovery. Of the total, 508 were active cases, 545 were discharged, and 29 people died.

For the first time the number of people discharged was higher than active cases. State Health Minister Eatala Rajender said hospital authorities were acting on issues related to medical services pointed out by those who recovered.

One COVID-19 patient who recovered was a 68-year-old man with diabetes. The patient was admitted with bilateral pneumonia, and respiratory problems. The Health Minister’s office said the patient in intensive care unit was administered Hydroxychloroquine, Liponavir, Ritonavir. He was discharged after recovery. The number of districts with zero cases in 14 days increased to 17.

95 under treatment

No fresh COVID-19 cases were reported in Kerala on Sunday. The Health department said in a statement that one patient - a Kasaragod native, undergoing treatment in Kannur, was reported as having recovered from the disease.

Kerala had a total of 499 cases, of which 401 had recovered, while 95 were undergoing treatment in various hospitals.

The government said 21,720 persons were under surveillance in different districts. Of these, 21,332 were under observation in their own homes, while 388 were admitted in isolation wards in hospitals. The number of fresh hospital admissions on Sunday was 63.

Four new places in the State were declared as hotspots today - one each in Wayanad and Idukki district, and two in Ernakulam district. There were 84 hotspots in Kerala.

After several days of reporting low case numbers, Karnataka recorded 34 COVID-19 positive cases on Sunday. Davangere district was in focus, as 21 of the cases were from there. Davangere Deputy Commissioner Mahantesh Beelagi told the media that the district administration had sent 330 throat swabs in the last three days. Of these 37 high risk (A category) samples were tested and 21 were found to be positive. With this, the number of active cases had gone up to 28 in the district, he said.

Among the other cases, six were from Kalaburagi, four from Bengaluru Urban and three from Bagalkote, the media bulletin by the Department of Health and Family Welfare said. Out of these thirteen cases, four patients had Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), while the contact investigation for one case was on. All the remaining eight tested positive after coming in contact with a patient who was tested positive.

Meanwhile, the case tally in Karnataka stood at 635. A total of 293 patients were discharged, 21 being discharged on Sunday.

(With inputs from Vijayawada, Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru)