Cases surge, Telangana braces for long-haul fight

HYDERABAD: Authorities in Telangana on Wednesday said they are gearing up for a long battle to contain the surge of coronavirus cases by procuring more equipment and protection for its health workers, even as 49 more Covid-19 cases were reported in the state.
As the overall count of coronavirus cases went up to 453 in the state health minister Eatala Rajendar said the government has ordered five lakhs more Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and an equal number of N 95 masks for them.The minister said the government has also ordered 2 crore general masks used by the doctors, despite having a stock of 20 lakh masks already. To prevent people from going for private labs with higher costs, the state government will also procure 3.5 lakh corona testing kits. A total of 20 lakh gloves used by medical staff will be added in addition to one crore to be procured. He said, about five lakh goggles will be ordered as well.

“Though the cost of masks has increased, the government is going for massive procurement of the masks,” he said. Addressing a media conference, the minister said there are 397 active cases in the hospitals, and he was hopeful of bringing down the count soon with renewed efforts.
The minister said because of the tests are being conducted regularly there are 535 samples remaining with the government and the number of cases could come down to a single digit in few days.
Authorities said the 397 patients who are getting treated in hospitals, all are healthy and they will be tested again before considering their discharge. Etela said that little more than 1100 people went to Delhi event and all of them were traced and those who tested negative among them will be under quarantine till April 21. The first contact persons and their families of these people are 3158 under quarantine. He reiterated that said all the coronavirus positive cases will be treated in Gandhi hospital and they will not be sent to Koti or Fever hospitals. The minister said that there is no case of community spread in the state and there is no need for random tests in the state.
Meanwhile, two persons from same family have tested positive for Covid-19 in the Jaishankar Bhoopalpally district. While the man, who attended the religious gathering at Nizamuddin Markaz tested positive recently, it was confirmed on Wednesday that his daughter also got affected by the virus
The district administration has moved 37 people to quarantine in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Three areas have been declared as red zones and authorities have taken up spraying operations.
The affected areas are Madina colony, Ramnagar, Shantinagar and Gandhinagar, Kakatiya colony, Akudariveda, Fakirguda and Singareni area. In order to prevent the spread of pandemic, sarpanch of Laxmareddypalle, Oddula Vijaya Reddy is participating in the spraying operations. In Nalgonda district, a sub-inspector (SI) was issued a charge memo by Superintendent of Police (SP) AV Ranganath for beating up a farmer of Damarcharla. After enquiring both parties about the incident the SP found fault with SI, Naramishma Rao. The SI had beaten farmer Subba Rao, who was returning from the agricultural fields.
Warangal Urban district administration went into high alert on Wednesday after one more coronavirus positive case was reported from the district. Nineteen positive cases linked to Tablighi Jamaat meeting in Nizamuddin have already been reported and all of them quarantined.