266 cases of coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh, 243 of them Tablighi Jamaat attendees, their contacts

Andhra Pradesh has seen 266 positive cases of coronavirus till now and 243 of them either attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi or came in contact with the attendees.

Andhra Pradesh Medical and Health Department Special Chief Secretary Jawahar Reddy informed the Chief Minister's review meeting on Monday that a total of 266 coronavirus positive cases were detected till 9 am on Monday.

"Two hundred and forty-three of them are those who attended Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi and their contacts. Tests have been conducted on almost all of them," Reddy said.

He said village volunteers, ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife), ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers have conducted household surveys and identified people with symptoms.

"Doctors are taking a decision on whom to be tested. Tests will be conducted on such persons," Reddy said.

The officials informed the Chief Minister that the capacity of laboratories in Visakhapatnam, Guntur, and Kadapa was being increased.

They said that some ultra-modern equipment is coming to the state in a few days with permission of ICMR, which will enable tests being done at a much faster pace.

They said arrangements for telemedicine services are being made through NGOs.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister gave instructions to focus on red zone clusters and conduct random tests.

He also gave instructions to provide quality facilities at quarantine and isolation camps according to standard operating procedures.

He said Personal Protective Equipment and masks should first reach medical teams in COVID-19 affected areas.