HYDERABAD: Telangana on Wednesday witnessed a sharp decline in COVID-19 cases with 15 positive cases being reported, taking the total number to 943, but there was one death which took the total toll to 24 in the State. The number of active cases thus has increased to 725. No coronavirus patient was discharged on Wednesday and as a result, the number of patients discharged remained unchanged at 194.
Suryapet, which has become the new epicentre of COVID-19, recorded three more cases on Wednesday, while the other district Gadwal, which is running very close, had two cases. With Suryapet recording 26 positive cases in a single day on Tuesday, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao deputed a team of Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Director General of Police M Mahendar Reddy and Principal Secretary of Health Shantha Kumari to the two new hotspots to assess the situation and evolve a plan of action to halt the spread of virus.
To begin with, in Suryapet, the government transferred the District Medical and Health Officer Niranjan and in his place Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri DMHO N Sambasiva Rao has been posted to take control of the situation.
Suryapet DSP V Nageswara Rao also has been axed and was asked to report to the headquarters in Hyderabad. A new officer, ACP S Mohan Kumar has been posted in his place. Suryapet inspector K Sivasankar has been transferred to Nagarkurnool and A Anjaneyulu from Rachakonda Police Commissionerate has been posted in his place.
Stringent measures
After visiting the coronavirus-affected district, State Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar directed the officials to take stringent measures to control the virus. District Collector T Vinay Krishna Reddy and SP R Bhaskaran explained to the team the ground situation and the reasons for the sudden spike in the cases.
Somesh Kumar said that the officials should realise that Suryapet, which has just 13 lakh population, already has 83 cases and therefore one has to work with a sense of dedication.
Officials want public announcements on COVID-19
At the same time, he allayed fears over further explosion of cases in the district and asked the people to co-operate with the government in its effort to contain the virus. He directed the District Collector and SP to work in coordination with all departments. Meanwhile, the government has appointed Sarparaj Ahmad, an IAS official, as special officer and Municipal Administration Deputy Director S Venugopal Reddy as OSD.
Somesh Kumar, Mahendar Reddy and Shantha Kumari concentrated mostly on containment in zones where the incidence is high. They wanted barricades to be set up and public announcements made in Telugu and Urdu, explaining to people the need for staying home in containment zones. The officials said if anyone breaks the rules, they would be quarantined.
Shantha Kumari directed her department staff to undertake door-to-door survey and arrange tests every morning and evening. Later, they also visited Gadwal and learned about the situation from Collector Sruthi Ojha. They visited Vedanagar and Momin Mohalla in Gadwal.
District SP K Apoorva Rao, Special Officer D Ronald Rose, IG Shiva Shakar and other officials too were present when the senior officials elicited information about the incidence of pandemic. Somesh Kumar said whenever a positive case comes up, all primary, secondary and tertiary contacts of the patient need to be identified and sent into quarantine.