The death of a 70-year old woman from Tadepalli in Guntur district due to Coronavirus on Saturday led to speculations in the social media that the authorities have declared the entire area as a Red Zone.
The speculations assumed significance since YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy also resides in the heart of Tadepalli. Moreover, the apartment – Maruthi Residency at Tadepalli, where the old woman died is not very far from the chief minister’s camp office-cum-residence.
The woman succumbed to Corona at the government general hospital in Vijayawada, taking the total toll due to the virus attack in the state till now to 15, including five deaths in Krishna district alone.
As the news started spreading in the media about Tadepalli being declared as Red Zone, Guntur collector Samuel Anand strongly denied the rumours. He declared that the chief minister’s residence did not come under the Red Zone at all.
“Only those places which record at least four positive cases for Covid-19 will be declared as Red Zone. So far, only one positive case has emerged from Tadepalli area,” he clarified.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh registered 31 new positive cases for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the state’s tally of cases to 603. Of the 31 new cases, 18 were reported from Krishna district alone and five from Kurnool.
Kurnool accounts for the maximum number of cases till now – 129, followed by 126 in Guntur, 70 in Krishna, 67 in Nellore, 44 in Prakasam, 37 in Kadapa, 35 in West Godavari, 30 in Chittoor, 26 in Anantapur and 20 in Visakhapatnam.
A total of 42 patients have so far recovered and discharged from hospitals. With this the number of active cases stands at 546.