TS admits Covid-19 scenario worse
The government of Telangana conceded on Thursday that the state was currently in grip of Stage II of Novel Coronavirus infections (secondary transmission), a worsening of the epidemic from the Stage I (primary transmission), and it is just being a matter time before the state enters the dreaded Stage III.
In Stage I, a person who is Covid-19 infected, after having returned from abroad where she or he caught it, transmits it to a local person, who does not any foreign travel history, after coming in contact. In Stage II, secondary transmission is witnessed, when some of those who have not travelled abroad but contacted the infection locally, further transmit to another locally. This community transmission is witnessed in this stage but at low numbers. The deadly Stage III is when rate of infection is expected to multiply as the disease is beginning to spread in the community rap-idly from one person to another or more at a time. After conceding that Stage III is near, TS decided to convert Gandhi Hospital into a coronavirus care centre.
Henceforth, Gandhi Hospital, which had been for some time the point for testing of Covid-19 cases and treatment, will no longer be offering services to patients facing or suffering from other health conditions.
Health minister Etala Rajendar, during a review with senior health department officials here today, said, “the disease has already reached Stage II in Telangana.”
The minister discussed preparations required in the state for the department to be able to face up to community transmission phase of the disease. He instructed officials to get in place all required equipment, materials, and medicines. He also declared that under no circumstance should medical and health personnel be given any leave.
Mr Rajendar called for stricter monitoring of all people who have returned or came to the state from other countries. He said that surgeries scheduled in Gandhi have been shifted to the Osmania General Hospital, and that, by the end of the month, Gandhi must become a hospital fully dedicated to treating Covid-19 cases only.
The health minister said that the Telangana government was taking all possible steps to stop spread of Coronavirus to Stage III and urged people to observe lockdown fully to limit social contact.