Hospital staff is seen outside the Special Isolation Ward set up to provide treatment to any suspected case of the coronavirus, in Hyderabad (file photo)
Eighteen people tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, as the local authorities tested 665 samples for symptoms of the new virus, state health minister Eatala Rajender said. Rajender said that the new numbers indicate a decrease in the overall number of cases. With the new infections, Telangana's tally of infections has gone up to 471. At least seven people from the state have succumbed to the infection till now.
At least 388 of the 471 people who have tested positive so far attended the Tablighi Jamaat gathering, organised at New Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz last month, Rajender said.
The health minister further revealed that people linked to the Markaz gathering, who returned to the state on March 25, 26 and 27, were also being tested for coronavirus.
India has so far recorded 5,865 new coronavirus cases, since the disease first surfaced in the country on Jan 30. A total of 169 deaths have been reported across the country till date.
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