Covid cases cross 400-mark in Telangana; infant contracts virus

HYDERABAD: The number of COVID-19 cases in Telangana is rising inexorably with 40 new positive cases being reported on Tuesday, which included a heart-wrenching case of a 23-day-old infant contracting the deadly infection in Mahbubnagar.

According to the official bulletin, the new positive cases took the number of total cumulative active cases in the State to 348. An encouraging development was that there were no deaths, but at the same time, there were no instances of patients being cured on Tuesday. The number of deaths remained at 11 and those who have been discharged at 45. After Hyderabad, which has 150 active cases, it is Nizamabad that ranks second with 36 active cases, followed by Jogulamba-Gadwal with 22 cases.

In Mahbubnagar, doctors declared that the 23-day-old infant, whose grandfather had visited Markaz-Nizamuddin for Tablighi Jamaat congregation, tested positive for Coronavirus. Both the grandparents of the boy tested positive on March 2 and the infection had spread to a nearby colony, where a couple tested positive too. Though the infant’s father has not tested positive for COVID-19, he has been giving tuition to children in the area, which has caused concern among people.

Meanwhile, the Mahbubnagar district administration imposed a total lockdown at BK Reddy Colony and Marlu localities in Mahbubnagar town. The officials are busy identifying the primary and secondary contacts of the grandparents of the infant. While this is so, in the northern-most district of Adilabad, the police registered a case against a doctor at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for not reporting the fact that he had attended the Markaz-Nizamuddin convention. After his return, he continued to treat patients and even performed surgeries on some patients.

The Jogulamba Gadwal district, which is also acquiring the dubious distinction of becoming yet another Covid-19 hotspot, reported eight new positive cases on Tuesday. However, it is shocking to know that 17 of the 22 cases in the district were those who attended the religious convention at Markaz-Nizamuddin.