4th Covid +ve case in city, lens on Scotland returnee

Telangana confirmed its fourth Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) positive case on Monday, of a man who came to the city from Scotland recently. The two tests conducted on samples collected from him, after he was admitted to the Gandhi General Hospital (GGH), were found positive for Covid-19 disease, the state health department said.

Two other Covid-19 patients are already under treatment at the GGH here. One of them is a young woman, who recently returned from Italy, while the other is a man in his early 40s, who came back from The Netherlands.

The latest Covid-19 positive patient was in the city on a visit from Scotland. The department said that it was awaiting tests on 19 other individuals, whose samples were collected on Monday.

Three more test samples’ results are also being awaited, the department said.

In a bid to fast-track testing of suspect cases, whose first test comes positive, the health department is now conducting a confirmatory second test at the lab in Gandhi Hospital, instead of sending second test samples to the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

Meanwhile, health minister Etala Rajendar on Monday spoke on telephone with all three patients admitted to the Gandhi Hospital and assured them of best possible medical care. Mr Rajendar comforted them, saying they would be cured soon and can go back home after that.

He inquired from them about the treatment being given to them and the facilities at the hospital, and received some suggestions, his office said. The minister also spoke with members of families of the patients.

Mr Rajendar said that all cases so far in Telangana were of people who travelled to Hyderabad from other countries, but there was no local transmission of the disease. The minister briefed Chief Minister K .Chandrashekar Rao on the progress in treatment of patients and steps being taken to further tighten screening, quarantining of suspect cases and ensuring availability of equipment, materials and medicines.

The health department has begun coordinating with the police to implement its plan of sending everyone arriving from seven listed high-risk countries for a mandatory state-run quarantine. It has started sending international passengers aged over 60 years for a 14-day mandatory quarantine at Haritha hotel in Vikarabad.