8 new Covid cases in one day
Seven cases relate to Indonesians, one from Medchal; total reaches 13
Wednesday witnessed the most serious surge in coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in Telangana, with the state health department announcing a total of eight new positive cases of the disease late at night. Of these eight cases, seven are from among the 10 Indonesian preachers who were brought to the Gandhi Hospital here from Karimangar on Tuesday.
This takes the total number of Covid-19 cases in Telangana to 13, including one patient, the first, a youth from Mahendra Hills area of the city, a techie, who was cured and discharge from the hospital a few days ago.
The first of the eight new cases announced on Wednesday was declared in the evening at around 5 pm by health minister Etala Rajendar, who said that one of the 10 Indonesian preachers had tested positive for the disease. However, late at night, after 11 pm, Telangana health department released a special bulletin announcing that seven more Indonesians had tested positive for the disease.
Worried over the fallout, the government is planning a widespread testing for the disease in a 3-kms radius of the district collectorate, close to the mosque in Karimnagar, where the Indonesians had stayed for three days, before being sent to the Gandhi Hospital in the city on Tuesday.
Earlier, the 58-year-old Covid-19 positive Indonesian patient, the first in the group of preachers to be found positive, was reported to be in a critical condition at the Gandhi Hospital, with breathlessness, severe persistent cough and other acute symptoms. Doctors were monitoring diagnostic tests for the viral load in the patient’s body, its affect on the lung system, and possible pneumonia.
The response of the immune system to the viral load is being checked to adjust medication accordingly. “He is not on ventilator support, but his condition is being monitored,” the minister said.
The 58-year-old Covid-19 Indonesian patient, the first in the group of preachers to be found positive, is in a critical condition