Andhra Deputy CM tests negative for coronavirus after his personal assistant gets COVID-19

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister (Health) AKK Srinivas, commonly referred to as Alla Nani, on Wednesday said that his personal attendant has tested positive for the coronavirus. The Deputy Chief Minister, however, tested negative apart from 13 other members of his office at the state Secretariat. Srinivas revealed this at a press conference on Wednesday night."My attendant tested positive in the TruNat test (normally used for TB testing) and we have sent the samples for further reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. Me and 13 of the staff members also underwent the test and all of us tested negative for coronavirus," Srinivas said. The Deputy CM said asymptomatic cases were on the rise in the state. He said special focus was laid on Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts where hundreds of cases were reported. Kurnool registered 343 cases, followed by Guntur at 283 and Krishna at 236 cases out of the total 1,332 in the state as on Wednesday. Srinivas said private hospitals in the state should resume out-patient services by ensuring adequate measures to check the spread of coronavirus."We have asked the health officials to issue necessary orders in this regard. Appropriate action will be taken against those who do not follow the government orders," the Deputy CM said.  In a review meeting held in Amaravati on Wednesday, officials told Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy that the clusters in the state have been put into three categories -- 76 very active clusters with positive cases reported in the past five days, 55 clusters with no positive cases reported in the past five to 14 days, and 73 dormant clusters with no positive cases reported in the past 4 to 28 days. Moreover, 10 clusters have reported no cases in the past 28 days, a press release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said. Read:  ‘Andhra has a strategy for how to test and when to test’: Dr PV Ramesh Kumar IAS Intv 4,056 Andhra fishermen stuck in Gujarat head back home