T’gana home minister tests positive for Covid

Telangana home minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali was on Sunday admitted to a corporate hospital in Hyderabad after he tested positive for Covid-19, health department

Published on: Jun 30, 2020, 24:01:04 IST

By Srinivasa Rao Apparasu, Hyderabad

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Telangana home minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali was on Sunday admitted to a corporate hospital in Hyderabad after he tested positive for Covid-19, health department officials said.

The minister, who attended a series of programmes including Haritha Haram, under which he had taken up tree plantation in the police parade grounds at Gosha Mahal in the old city area last week, got tested for Covid-19 three days ago, after his gunman tested positive last week.

“On Sunday, the test result proved that he was positive for the virus. He immediately got admitted to a corporate hospital in Jubilee Hills,” an official in the health department said.

Ali is the first cabinet minister in the state to test positive for Covid-19.

Earlier, three TRS legislators, gunmen and personal assistants of at least three ministers tested positive and are undergoing treatment at different hospitals.

At the Telangana State Police Academy (TSPA), at least100 trainee sub-inspectors and 80 officials and staff were positive.

Meanwhile, state health minister Eatala Rajender admitted that the number of positive cases for Covid-19 had been on the rise in Hyderabad and surroundings, but the death rate was not very alarming – it was just around 1.1 per cent which was very low compared to the national average of 3 per cent.

He said the state cabinet would take a decision soon on the reimposition of lock down in Hyderabad and surroundings in the wake of growing cases.

Meanwhile, a central team led by joint secretary of Union ministry of health Luv Agarwal, is extensively touring different hospitals in Hyderabad to inspect the facilities and treatment being given to the Covid-19 patients. The team will hold a series of meetings with state government officials to assess the ground situation in Hyderabad, which accounts for 88 per cent of the Covid-19 cases in the state

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Srinivasa Rao Apparasu
Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience.

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