With Telangana reporting 50 more Covid-19 cases, including 25 from Hyderabad alone on Thursday, the Telangana government has appealed to the people who had come in contact with returnees from last month’s Tablighi Jamaat conference to get themselves tested for the disease.
On Thursday, the number of Covid-19 positive cases touched 700 with 50 new cases and no deaths. State health minister Eatala Rajender said 68 patients who had been undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital were discharged.
He said nearly 80 per cent of the 700 cases were linked to the people who had attended the Markaz event organized by the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in New Delhi last month. “Though the police and health department authorities had managed to trace a majority of them and got them quarantined, we are of the view that there could still be some Jamaat returnees and their contacts, who are avoiding treatment despite repeated requests,” the state health minister said.
“During our door-to-door survey, one person who contracted the virus in Talab Katta area in the old city of Hyderabad transmitted the infection to 20 people. Similarly, six Jamaat returnees had infected 81 people. I request people who have contacted Markaz returnees to come forward. We appeal to you to come to us before the health and police officials come to you,” the health minister said at a news conference.
According to a bulletin from the state government on Thursday, 496 people are still undergoing treatment, while a total of 186 people have so far recovered and been discharged, while 18 others have died.
{{/usCountry}}According to a bulletin from the state government on Thursday, 496 people are still undergoing treatment, while a total of 186 people have so far recovered and been discharged, while 18 others have died.
{{/usCountry}}Rajender said that the state government is also ensuring all Covid-19 patients who are admitted at the state-run Gandhi hospital, are getting required nutrition and that they are being provided with all the required amenities. “We also have separate wards for children. For women also, we will have separate wards,” he added.
The health minister also pointed out that among all of the patients, the 10 Indonesian nationals who were found in Karimnagar district (and who attended the Markaz Nizamuddin congregation), had also travelled to different places, insinuating that they had possibly spread the infection to others. “The district authorities took immediate action there and the situation there has been contained. We are doing that in Hyderabad as well,” Rajender added.
Meanwhile, 16 new Covid-19 positive cases were reported in Suryapet district on Thursday, taking the total number of cases in the district to 39, according to district collector T Vinay Krishna Reddy.
The development created a flutter in the district since it comes within 24 hours of the Centre’s announcement that the district was an orange zone. The spurt in Covid-19 cases is likely to bring the district under the red zone.
Of the 16 positive cases reported on Thursday, 14 were primary contacts of a Covid-19 positive person, a resident of Kothedudem Bazar in the town. All of them are linked to a Markaz returnee. The other two are also contacts of earlier cases – one from Tirumalgiri and another from Aipur village in the district.
The health minister said the new state-of-the art hospital for Covid-19 patients at Gachibowli is almost ready and will be inaugurated on April 20. He said the state was ready to handle any number of positive cases. “We are procuring 10 lakh PPEs and 10 lakh N-95 masks. We have given permission to two more private labs for testing of patients and now, we can test 5,000 samples every day,” the minister added.