Telangana: 31 in Suryapet infected by one woman who visited several houses for a game

HYDERABAD: A Suryapet woman who played the ancient ‘ashta chamma’ (a traditional board game very much like the modern day Ludo) in several houses to kill time during the lockdown ended up spreading the coronavirus to 31 others. This startling finding baffled the administrators, who have been worried over the sudden spike in Covid-19 cases.
A high-level team led by chief secretary Somesh Kumar, during its visit on Wednesday, came to know that the woman had a Tablighi Jamaat meeting contact and visited several houses to play indoor games.She tested positive for Covid-19 and later 31 others contracted the virus from her. The total number of positive cases touched 83 — next only to Hyderabad — with three more cases reported on Wednesday.
At least five district-level authorities were suspended in Suryapet after it was found that the surveillance teams had failed to conduct door-to-door surveys even after the first case detected. District medical and health officer Niranjan has been replaced with B Sambasiva Rao, who will also hold full additional charge.
DSP of Suryapet M Nageswar Rao and circle inspector Shiv Shankar have also been transferred. Sources said lockdown norms were not followed and swift action was not taken in identifying the contacts of coronavirus positive cases. Sources in the medical and health department told TOI that the survey and surveillance have not been serious.