Sporadic cases of COVID-19 are here to stay, official says after two deaths

A dedicated COVID-19 isolation ward was set up at Visakhapatnam’s King George Hospital (KGH) on Saturday. | Photo credit: KR DEEPAK

The deaths of two people who tested positive for COVID-19 within 10 days have revived memories of the pandemic and sparked public concern. But health officials say sporadic infections are to be expected and there is no cause for concern.

Two patients, one from Rajampeta in Annamayya district and the other from Kadapa, had no recent travel history except visits to nearby villages.

Kadapa District Medical Officer and Health Officer Ravi Babu said a 43-year-old patient from Kadapa was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Kadapa, with bilateral pneumonia, fever and dyspnea.

As his condition did not improve after five days of treatment, doctors conducted a test for COVID-19 in accordance with the protocol for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients. He died on July 7.

The district administration traced 28 contacts of the patient and tested them. Eight positive cases were found in both districts. All are asymptomatic, stable and in home isolation.

Residents in the locality where the case was reported were advised to wear masks and observe hand hygiene.

In Rajampeta’s case, a 52-year-old patient was admitted to Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, with lung infection and bilateral kidney disease. He was also diabetic and hypertensive. He died on June 28.

After the two deaths, the health department set up a rapid response team to gather more information about the cases and set up a COVID-19 control room.

A senior official from the health department said that superintendents of all government general hospitals have been instructed to set aside 10-bed isolation wards. Hospitals were also ordered to have RT-PCR test kits, Remdesivir, personal protective equipment (PPE) and N95 masks ready as a precaution.

“During the pandemic itself, we understood that the virus was here to stay and that sporadic cases would continue to occur. These two infections only came to light because patients deteriorated and died. Otherwise, we might not have detected them,” the official said.

He reiterated that there was no need to panic. Wearing masks was left to individual discretion and no travel restrictions were imposed, he said.

The Department of Health is awaiting genome sequencing reports to identify the variant involved in the two cases.

Published – 11 Jul 2026 21:17 IST