Andhra Pradesh reports its first COVID-19 case after Italy returnee tests positive

All the five contacts of the student have been identified and were brought under hospital quarantine as per protocol.
The patient tested positive for COVID-19 has returned to Nellore from Italy, where he was pursuing MS. (Photo | Arun Angela, EPS)
The patient tested positive for COVID-19 has returned to Nellore from Italy, where he was pursuing MS. (Photo | Arun Angela, EPS)

NELLORE/VISAKHAPATNAM: A post-graduate student, who returned from Italy to Nellore recently tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. It is the first case of coronavirus reported in Andhra Pradesh.

Confirming it, the Department of Health in a press release said that youth has been kept in the isolation ward at Nellore Government General Hospital. The patient is stable and all his vitals are normal. He has recovered from symptoms, is keeping good health and will be discharged after completion of 14 days when the retesting of the sample will take place, the release said.

Meanwhile, all the five contacts of the student have been identified and were brought under hospital quarantine as per protocol.

The patient tested positive for COVID-19 has returned to Nellore from Italy, where he was pursuing MS. As he had developed a dry cough and other symptoms of coronavirus after his return from Italy, first he got admitted himself to a private hospital and later was shifted to an isolation ward in Nellore GGH on March 9.

His samples were sent to Virology Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS), which confirmed that samples tested positive, after receiving the reports from the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

On the other hand, two suspected cases of COVID-19 were admitted to isolation ward at Chest Hospital in Visakhapatnam. While one of them has come from Italy, the other one recently visited Singapore.

The first person from Sarada colony at Anakapalle was studying in Italy and came back following the outbreak of coronavirus.  He had no symptoms on his arrival during the screening test at the airport. However, he developed a cough on Wednesday and approached Anakapalle NTR Hospital and after initial treatment was shifted to Chest Hospital in Visakhapatnam.

The other person also did not have any symptoms during screening at the airport, but he developed dry cough later. He too had approached Ananakapalle Hospital and was later shifted to Chest Hospital.

Meanwhile, GVMC Health personnel led by CMOH visited Sarada Colony and cleaned the surroundings of the house of Italy returnee with bleaching powder and inquired about the health condition of his relatives.

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