TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy acknowledged about the number of Covid-19 cases in Tirumala. Confirming it, 140 cases have been reported so far and all of them are TTD staff working in several departments from priests to laddu making staff.
Subba Reddy said 70 people have recovered and are currently under home quarantine. Out of 40 priests, 14 have tested positive and above 60 years priests are exempted from their daily activities. Currently all of them are getting treated in Srinivasam complex isolation ward.
Under these circumstances, there is a small demand among a few to stall the darshan and shutdown the temple for a few days. However Subba Reddy said there is no question of stalling the darshan and TTD is taking all the measures considering the safety of devotees.
Finding fault in Ramana Dikshitulu’s tweet, Subba Reddy suspected it to have political touch. “Being the prime priest of the temple, it is not appropriate to make such comments on social media. If there are any concerns then TTD is always open for talks,” said Subba Reddy.