Cases whittle down to 74 as 37 get discharged in Nellore

In a welcome development, 37 persons were discharged from hospital on recovery in SPSR Nellore district on Monday.

As many as 15 patients, including 14 from the COVID-19 hotspot of Sullurpeta, were discharged from Narayana hospital and the rest from the Government General Hospital here. The discharged patients included a woman who was into seventh month of her pregnancy, health officials said.

A person from Gudur was among those who were discharged at the Narayana Hospital. Doctors and medical staff gave a warm send-off to the cured patients who profusely thanked the former for the care provided to them.

With this, the number of patients getting treatment in the two COVID-19 designated hospitals came down to 74. A majority of them were traders from the areas bordering Tamil Nadu, including Gudur, Tada and Nayudupeta and their primary contacts. They had contracted the disease after coming into contact with the traders in Koyambedu for marketing farm produce.

The health authorities heaved a sigh of relief as no fresh cases were reported in the district on Monday.

The district had been seeing steady increase in the total number of confirmed cases of late with those who had returned after visiting the Koyambedu vegetable and fruit market contracting the disease.

Meanwhile, the pandemic cast a shadow on the Ramzan fete as people celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr in the confines of their homes. The Idgah, closer to Bara Shahid Dargah, where thousands of people used to congregate, was guarded by police personnel. Many of the localities, where a signification population of Muslims live, including Kotamitta, Janda Veedhi etc., wore a deserted look.