Lepakshi festival: Foreigners visits being monitored as precautionary measure in Anantapur

Anantapur: In view of the two-day Lepakshi festival which will be commenced on Saturday, the district administration has taken effective steps to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

Already hundreds of children and artistes have been kept under medical screening. Even preventive medicines have been administered by the medical and health department to children participating in cultural programmes.

Arrangements have been made even for screening of foreigners who are likely to participate in the two-day festival.

Foreigners living in Puttaparthi and frequently visiting Lepakshi are also under medical surveillance. Also vigilance had been stepped up by the Karnataka government and district administration on the South Korean nationals who keep visiting Bengaluru and the Kia Automobile plant as South Korea is also a hot spot of Coronavirus.

Fresh visits from the country has been temporarily stopped and in case of emergency official visits they were being kept in isolation for observation for 4 weeks.

District Collector Gandham Chandrudu told 'The Hans India' that there is no need for any concern as the district administration and the police are highly vigilant on the movement of foreigners either to Puttaparthi, to Kia Motors and even to RDT where scores of Spain nationals visit the NGO campus.

Chandrudu said that recently 23 students from other countries studying in China, Iran or Korea and even Philiphines who had returned to their native places had been examined and tested negative for Covid-19.

Superintendent of Police B Sathya Yesu Babu said to The Hans India' that regulation of foreigners entry into the country is being taken care of at the level of Ministry of External Affairs and at foreign embassies in India.

Meanwhile all is set for the inauguration of the 2 day Lepakshi Vaibhavam festival beginning from Saturday.

Tourism Minister Muttamsetty Sreenivas, Tourism state officials and Minister Sankaranarayana, MLAs, MPs and a galaxy of visitors from neighbouring states will grace the occasion.