Indonesians had roamed about freely in Karimnagar: Officials
Section 144 imposed in district; officials carry out screening tests
Alarm bells are ringing in Karimnagar with the announcement of the medical department on Wednesday night that seven members of an Indonesian team who were in Karimnagar for three days tested positive for Covid-19.
The Karimnagar district administration has declared a high alert and imposed Section 144 in the surroundings areas of the collectorate and Mukurampura where the Ajmeria mosque is situated in which the Indonesians lived for three days.
When the Indonesians reached Karimnagar for zamath (a Muslim ritual), the head of the mosque received them and provided shelter in the mosque. The team first underwent screening at the hospital run by the mosque society. The police then referred them to main government hospital, where initially only one of them was diagnosed positive for Covid-19.
An employee of the society-run hospital told this reporter that the Indonesians went to the mosque for prayers several times during their stay.
The people who participated in the prayers were shocked when the medical department released the statement on Wednesday night that seven of the Indonesians had tested positive for Covid-19.
The district administration has imposed restrictions and urged people not to come out of their homes, especially those living in the surroundings of the collectorate and Mukarampura.
The health department has established a control room in the district medical and health office and is monitoring the situation across the districts. One isolation centre with all medical facilities was established at the back of the government main hospital and one more such centre is to be established on the city’s outskirts for patients who show definite symptoms of Covid-19.
About 100 teams divided into several batches conducted screening tests for people living in the collectorate’s surroundings and Mukarampura. Every house within 100-metre radius of the mosque was visited and details of the people with health complications noted. They were advised to visit the hospital immediately.
Under the supervision of
collector K. Shashanka, rapid response teams were deployed in all mandals for identifying persons who show symptoms of Covid-19. The teams submitted their report to the collector.
The district administration is mainly focusing on people who have arrived
from foreign countries and has insisted they stay indoors for a period of 28 days, during which they will be kept under observation.
Speaking to the press, minister Gangula Kamalakar said that special medical teams have screened about 25,000 people living