2 positive cases every minute in Telangana

People ignore safety norms against Covid; officials complain they are forced to attend meetings

Coronavirus is spreading in the city at such a rapid pace that one person was infected every 2.1 minutes in Greater Hyderabad on Sunday. The Coronavirus strike rate for the state was 1.98 persons per minute. The state recorded a new high of 730 cases on Sunday, 659 of them coming from Hyderabad.

Compared to this, the strike rate on June 14 was about one person every 8 minutes for Hyderabad and just over five minutes for the state.

Despite hundreds of cases being discovered each day, authorities are dismayed that their warnings to people to maintain six feet distance in public places, wear face masks and practice hygiene, particularly hand hygiene, have been ignored. Government officials cutting across departments, both at the senior and mid-levels, are complaining that they are being forced to attend review meetings in person by ministers and senior officials. With nobody being the wiser about who is a Covid-19 carrier anymore, several officials expressed the fear that they will pay the price in terms of their health as they have to attend the meetings so political leaders can be seen as being active. There is no reason why video-conference facilities can’t be used.

The virus has been striking across all ages, with most cases being reported from the 26-30 year age group followed by those in the 31-35 and 36-40 year groups. The other highly vulnerable sections are in the 21-25 and 41-65 year age groups. Men outnumber women almost by two times in terms of Covid-19 victims, according to the state health department data.