TS REPORTS 79 CASES, HIGHEST SO FAR IN A DAY

Monday emerged as one of the worst days yet for Hyderabad which saw 79 cases being reported, the highest single day tally of Covid-19 victims. With this, the number of cases has risen to 1,275. The health department in its daily bulletin did not report any further fatalities and the toll remained static at 30.

Almost all the cases were reported from the Old City and included at least 13 children under the age of 15 years. Many of the cases were from a few families. It is learnt that Shaikpet mandal is one of the worst-hit with more than 60 cases since Sunday.

The serious spike in Covid-19 cases came amidst worries among Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials over the watered down containment policies adopted by the state government. Over the past few days, containment zones have been reduced from blocks of residential areas to individual homes and apartment complexes.

Also, in a possible acknowledgement of the severity of Coronavirus infections and spread in the city, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, according to a news release from his office, called for increased vigilance and efforts to contain the disease.

Significantly, according to the release, the Chief Minister called for testing of all primary contacts of every confirmed Covid-19 patient.

This signals a reversal of a recently reported plan by the health department that it will stop testing of primary contacts too in what was seen as a follow-up action on its part when it previously announced that it was stopping testing of all secondary contacts of Covid-19 positive individuals.

Fifty patients recovered from the on Monday, taking the total to 801.