Until a few days back, the Andhra Pradesh government focused solely on foreign returnees and maintained their data accurately. An army of local volunteers, drawn from various departments, kept vigil on their movements and their health condition. In the last one week, there is a clear shift. The focus is now entirely on Delhi returnees.
After it became known that many of those who visited Tablighi Jamath in Nizamuddin tested positive coronavirus across the country, the AP government became alert. A few days ago, there was a little more than a dozen COVID-19 positive cases in AP, and majority of the patients had returned from Italy, UK and other countries. Today, however, of the 87 positive cases, 70 are those who attended the Jamaat in Delhi or their family members.
The testing pattern has also drastically changed. Initially, AP only tested foreign returnees or their contacts if they showed any symptoms. That is not the case now. The state health ministry is tracking and testing all those who went to Delhi and their close contacts. As of Wednesday, authorities have collected 1,313 samples from individuals. Of these, 218 samples belong to foreign returnees and 140 are of their contacts. When compared, the number of Delhi returnees tested is more than double. Samples have been collected from 543 Delhi returnees, and another 263 are of their contacts.
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According to Chief Minister Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, more than 1,000 people from the state who attended the Delhi event have been identified, out of which 500 have been tested. As many as 21 people are yet to be traced, he added.
What worries the officials is the fact that a majority of people who returned from Delhi are asymptomatic. Many of them did not show any sign of illness. They were traced by the officials and tested randomly. To their surprise, many of them tested positive.
Kadapa district in AP did not have a single case of COVID-19 until two days ago. Now, there are 15 cases after locals who went to Delhi and their contacts were tested. The health officials are also re-looking at the entire process of screening and testing the foreign returnees.
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A section of officials are of the opinion that if all those who returned from foreign countries and their contacts were to be tested like Delhi returnees, then there is a possibility of the number of positive cases going up.
Another concern is again related to Delhi returnees. Since many of them have spent days in the state after their return and moved around freely as they were asymptomatic, it is proving to be a tough task for the officials to record every movement and meeting of theirs. Health officials are now working overtime to identify clusters so that they can have a containment strategy in place for every cluster and impose restrictions in that zone.
Telangana is yet to release an official figure on the number of people who travelled to Delhi. However, officials have information about 1,000 people and are in the process of tracing 160 of them. The Telangana government announced six COVID-19 deaths in the state and all of them had a Delhi connection. The administration appealed to the people to voluntarily inform officials about travel history to Delhi. At some places, there are complaints of non-cooperation and resistance.
In Nizamabad district, a person who was in quarantine after attending the Delhi event died because of COVID-19, according to state government. The relative of the deceased, who had also gone to Delhi, turned out to be positive for COVID-19. The district administration went into a huddle to identify their contacts, screen more locals and disinfect the area but, it turned out to be a tough task.
“They had some concerns and fears. We called the elders of the community and explained to them about the situation. The issue has been resolved and they are cooperating with us. Today, we could identify close to 27 primary contacts,” informed district collector Narayana Reddy.
At various places, it has been learnt that people were not forthcoming in divulging details about their travel history.
Telangana has reported 97 cases of COVID-19. There is no clarity on how many of them are Delhi returnees and their contacts. However, there has been a spike ever since the Telangana government began extensively testing all those who were in some way connected to the Delhi event.
According to a senior official of a government hospital in Hyderabad, they are not taking any chances and are testing all the suspects, including those who are asymptomatic.
Like AP, Telangana has loosened its grip over foreign returnees, as many of them have completed the mandatory quarantine period. However, some people who returned from Indonesia and tested positive are still being quarantined at Gandhi Government hospital in Hyderabad. These patients had attended the event in Delhi.
