71 COVID-19 suspects admitted in isolation wards so far in Karimnagar

District Collector K Shashanka said total of 71 persons who had interacted with group of 10 Indonesian preachers who tested positive for coronavirus have admitted in isolation wards.

While some of them were admitted in of district headquarters hospital, the others are in Chelmeda Ananda Rao hospital.

Swab samples of 41 of the 71 persons have been collected and sent to Gandhi hospital to test for coronavirus, he said, addressing the media along with Commissioner of Police V B Kamalasan Reddy, Additional Collector GV Shyamprasad Lal and Karimnagar Municipal Corporation Commissioner Valluri Kranthi here.

Talking about foreign returnees, he said a total of 520 people had come to the district from various countries recently. All of them are under home quarantine and they have been stamped. “They have to confine themselves at their respective homes for 14 days. Their passports have been taken away and acknowledgments given to them. Once the situation returns to normal, their passports would be returned,” he said, and warned of stringent action against those who violate the lockdown norms.

When asked about artificial shortage of essential commodities created by traders, he said a price monitoring committee headed by Additional Collector has been formed to tackle the issue. Two vigilance teams have also been formed to carry out surprise checks. “Traders indulging in blackmarketing will be booked under the PD Act,” he said, adding that social distancing was a critical factor for people queueing up in front of shops and supermarkets to purchase essential commodities.

“It is the responsibility of shop-owners to ensure customers maintain social distance in front of their shops,” he said and warned of cancellation of licenses of shops for 21 days if anybody failed to do so. “The administration is also planning to establish markets in 10 open places for the convenience of people,” he added.

Kamalasan Reddy said the situation in Karimnagar was far more serious than other districts, and hence it was necessary for people to impose self descipline and not venture out. “Community and village elders should take the initiative to ensure that people, particularly the youth, stay put at home. People should not venture out during the curfew period starting at 6 pm,” he said.

The CP said people were misusing the emergency number 100 by calling for meaningless issues. The police department is not meant to transport people from one place to another, and they will help people only in emergency cases, he added.