Amaravati, March 13 (IANS): Health authorities in Andhra Pradesh on Friday rolled out cluster containment plan covering 20,000 households in Nellore town, where a man was tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.
A day after the youth who had last week returned from Italy, tested positive for COVID-19, officials on Friday said the cluster was rolled out as per the protocol of the Ministry of Health, Government of India.
K.S. Jawahar Reddy, Special Chief Secretary, Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh said active surveillance of about 20,000 households was done and 11 persons who had returned from various countries were identified in this cluster and kept under home isolation for the next 14 days.
"If they show any symptoms we may have to shift them to hospitals and take samples. No other persons showed any symptoms," he said.
He said the family members of the man who was tested positive, their maid and her family members were also under observation. None of them showed any symptoms.
The man had come back from Italy on March 6 and showed some symptoms on March 9. He was isolated and both his initial and confirmatory tests were positive.
Across the State, nearly 564 people who have been abroad were put under isolation. While 331 of them are still under observation, 12 of them are in hospitals.
"As part of precautionary measures, the State government has identified two quarantine facilities at Tirupati and Visakhapatnam, which can accommodate 500 and 200 people. All foreign returnees are advised home isolation for 14 days and contact a helpline for medical advice prior to visiting a hospital," he said.
The authorities have also prepared a list of people who returned from various countries including hotspots Italy and Iran. They created WhatsApp groups for these persons at the district level and giving them instruction on home isolation. The field-level team is observing their health condition.
Rapid response teams were also formed along with taskforce teams. Public are advised not to panic and take necessary precautions by maintaining hygiene. People who are experiencing symptoms like cough, fever, breathlessness are advised to contact 104 helpline or call centre 0866-2410978.