17 cases, 1 more death recorded

Hyderabad city continues to be the hotbed for Covid19 with the health department reporting 15 new cases from the GHMC limits on Saturday. Two more cases were reported from Ranga Reddy district, the health department said. With these 17 cases, the total stands at 1,061.

One more person succumbed to the disease between Friday and Saturday, taking the toll to 29, according to the daily bulletin issued by the department. While the government did not report the death separately, in Friday’s bulletin the

Covid-19 fatalities was given as 28.

The department said that of the Covid patients,

705 were men and 305 women. This gender ratio is in line with the distribution of cases in the rest of the country. The bulletin also said that the highest number of patients, 21 per cent, were from the age band of 21 to 30 years, followed by 19 per cent in the

31-40 year group, 15 per cent in the 41-50 year group, 14 per cent in the

51-60 year group, and 13 per cent in the 11-20 year group. Those between 61 and 80 years comprise nine per cent of patients, while another nine per cent were children in the

0-10 year category. Health minister Etala Rajendar on Saturday said officials should place special focus on identifying people with Covid-19 symptoms and treating them. Mr Rajendar who chaired a review with senior health department officials on Covid control, said “there is every possibility that there will be exemptions in some parts of TS even if the lockdown is extended,” according to a news release.

From Page 1 Health minister Etala Rajendar on Saturday instructed officials to prepare proposals for appointing doctors and to further strengthen the intensive care unit in Gandhi Hospital. While the focus is on Covid19, people needing care for other medical issues should not be neglected, he said. He said that in view of the reopening of private hosptials and private clinics, a meeting must be held with representatives of the respective associations of both groups of service providers to discuss safety measures for medical staff as well as patients.