ONGOLE: A circle inspector, two sub-inspectors and seven police constables have recently tested positive for the coronavirus; an Ayush medical officer has also been infected. Till date, 625 coronavirus cases have been reported from Prakasam district. Ongole recorded the highest number of cases (135), followed by Chirala (83) and Markapur (58). The spike in cases continued as Saturday, Sunday and Monday witnessed 54, 33 and 47 cases respectively.
Of the 54 cases on Saturday, 18 were from Ongole; 10 patients were from judiciary staff quarters. All Ayush officials in the district, as well as Old RIMS staff, will undergo tests for Covid-19 as one of them has tested positive, said Dr Muralikrishna Reddy, deputy superintendent, Ongole government hospital. Meanwhile, Giddalur traders observed voluntary shutdown for 24 hours on Monday.
“Many from Markapur and Nandyal (Kurnool), where a number of cases has been reported, visit Giddalur for business, which is why we decided to shut down all shops for one day,” Anna Venkateswarlu, a businessman said. Also, the grandson of an MLA has recovered and discharged from Ongole GGH. The two SIs infected are from Kandukur and Darsi.