Telangana’s Covid tally at 404
State witnesses 40 new cases in a day; 17 from Hyderabad
The number of Covid-19 cases continued their relentless upward march in Telangana, with the state reporting 40 more new cases on Tuesday, taking the total number of Coronavirus cases so far to 404.
The state health department, in its daily bulletin, said that currently 348 Covid-19 positive patients were being treated in various hospitals.
Seventeen of the 40 new cases reported on Tuesday were from Hyderabad, while 10 others were from Nizamabad district, with Jogulamba-Gadwal district reporting nine new cases. The new cases in Hyderabad took the number of active cases in Hyderabad up to 150, highest in any district in the state.
Health minister Etala Rajendar said on Tuesday that almost every single case that Telangana was finding were either of people who attended threeday Markaz organised by the Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin in New Delhi between March 13 and March 15, or their contacts and touchpoints.
“It is either those who went to Markaz or contacts of these people, such as members of their families,” the minister told a TV channel.
Telangana, Mr Rajendar said, was prepared for any eventuality. The state has readied isolation beds in 22 private medical colleges across the state, which between them, have made arrangements to accommodate 12,000 patients, if need arises.
Mr Rajendar, along with municipal administration minister K.T. Rama Rao on Tuesday inspected a quarantine facility set up in the residential quarters of Gachibowli stadium, and also visited a private medical college to inspect facilities set up there.
A day after a Saifabad head constable tested positive for Covid-19, the police station premises was disinfected on Tuesday and 29 persons including 12 family members and 17 police officers working in the Hyderabad police commissionerate limits were sent to quarantine and samples collected from them for testing.
The 55-year-old head constable, a resident of Punjagutta, tested positive on Monday. “The policeman was not very interactive and kept to himself. Even during his regular duties, he maintained a distance from others. It is believed that he picked up the infection at a congregation,” said a senior police official on Tuesday.
The head constable who also suffers from diabetes did not show any signs of Covid-19.
He was a regular visitor to prayer congregations at three different locations in the city.
“On Saturday, he felt giddy and visited NIMS, where it was found that his blood sugar levels were high and medication was provided. The next day, he complained of shortness of breath to his son who rushed the policeman to Gandhi Hospital,” said the official.
When asked if the incident had shaken the police, Joint Commissioner, Central Zone, P. Viswa Prasad said, “The morale of police never goes down. It is unfortunate that a police official contracted the virus. The police is always motivated and strive for society’s betterment.”
Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar made a surprise visit to several places in the city and said about 95 per cent of people are following social distancing norms and appealed to all others to ensure maintaining distance from each other.
The top police official warned people not to venture out unnecessarily and not to spread rumours on social media.
Home minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali also appealed to the public to follow isolation norms at homes.
“Every small effort on our part will leave a big impact,” the minister said. About 1,400 vehicles have been seized in the three commissionerates in the last fortnight for lockdown violations, the state home minister added.