Andhra Pradesh: In East Godavari village, lone man infects 150

KAKINADA: About 20 kilometres from Kakinada, situated between green fields and coconut groves, lies Gollala Mamidada village. The otherwise nondescript hamlet in Pedapudi mandal in East Godavari district is now making headlines for having earned the dubious distinction of being the first village in the country to have 116 confirmed cases of Covid-19 as of Wednesday.
Gollala Mamidada is the mandal headquarter with a population of about 16,000.While most of the infected villagers are in home quarantine, a few have been isolated at a local private medical college.
On May 20, a 53-year-old Covid-19 infected person from the village succumbed to complications brought on by the virus at the Governmental General Hospital (GGH) in Kakinada within half-an-hour of admission.
The deceased, who was employed at a hotel and doubled up as a photographer, is believed to have been a super-spreader because of the nature of his job, as well as the delayed onset of symptoms. The patient directly or indirectly transmitted the virus to at least 150 people in Pedapudi and neighbouring Ramachandrapuram, Anaparti, Bikkavolu and Mandapeta mandals.
The deceased was believed to have contracted the virus while photographing an event in Ramachandrapuram. It was also learnt that the deceased participated in a mask distribution programme conducted by a local organisation.
Outbreak pushes tally in district above 300
However, district officials are yet to establish the origin of the disease in the super-spreader.
The son of the deceased was also diagnosed with the disease around the same time as his father, raising doubts over who transmitted the virus to whom. According to officials, the son had thrown a party for his friends at a local bakery before testing positive.
The outbreak in these mandals, meanwhile, has pushed the Covid-19 tally in East Godavari above 300 of which super-spreader-related infections alone account for more than 50 per cent of the caseload of the district. District officials have declared G Mamidada village a red zone and set up a special control room by drawing in officials from various departments.
East Godavari collector D Muralidhar Reddy said the deceased might have contributed to the outbreak in G Mamidada and neighbouring mandals after easing of lockdown norms after May 17. “Tests are being done on all the primary and secondary contacts of the Covid-19 infected persons,” said Reddy.
Medical tests are being conducted on all primary and secondary contacts of Covid-19 patients