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Central inspection team visits Telangana
Hyderabad: A five-member interministerial central team arrived in Hyderabad on Saturday to access the Covid-19 situation in the city, which accounts for nearly half,
Hyderabad: A five-member interministerial central team arrived in Hyderabad on Saturday to access the Covid-19 situation in the city, which accounts for nearly half, or 485, of the total 983 cases of the disease in Telangana.
Telangana is among the states where the Centre has deputed the interministerial teams to probe perceived lapses in efforts to control Covid-19 and violations of lockdown regulations.
Additional secretary Arun Baroka-led central team met Telangana chief secretary Somesh Kumar and discussed the steps being taken to contain the spread of the virus.
A state government statement said Kumar made a detailed presentation about the efforts taken to contain the disease and said all departments have been working as a team for a uniform Covid-19 management. Kumar briefed the team about the treatment of patients, enforcement of lockdown in containment zones, maintenance of quarantine centres, hospital preparedness, surveillance and testing. He referred to a helpline, procurement of medical equipment, the supply of rice to ration cardholders as well as relief measures for migrant workers.
Kumar said chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has ordered an extension of lockdown until May 7 to ensure there is no laxity in preventing the spread of the disease and that no relaxations had been given in any part of the state.
“The central team appreciated the initiatives taken by the state government to contain the spread of the virus in the state,” the statement said.
The central team earlier inspected the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences and inquired about the availability of doctors, support staff, testing kits, personal protection equipment and masks.
It is expected to meet police chief M Mahender Reddy and police commissioners of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda apart from officials of the health department to understand how Covid-19 spread so rapidly in Hyderabad over the last three weeks.
“The number of cases has been alarmingly rising in the densely populated areas of GHMC [Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation] where the chances of virus spread to others is high. However, the numbers have been coming down in the last two days. Only 12 cases have been reported since Thursday,” a GHMC official said on condition of anonymity.
Health minister Etala Rajender told reporters that a massive contact tracing exercise has led to the identification of 268 positive cases in the GHMC limits involving 44 families.
The Telangana government has declared Hyderabad a red zone and enforced a strict lockdown.
The GHMC has been directed to concentrate more on Hyderabad by dividing the city into zones and appointing officers for each of them.
Till the third week of April, there were 139 containment clusters in Hyderabad out of the 221 in Telangana. Public movement is totally prohibited in these areas and barricades have been put up there along with deployment of a heavy police force. The government has been supplying essential commodities to people in these areas.
