Eight die, 191 positive; No community spread in Telangana as per ICMR: Govt

HYDERABAD: Authorities in Telangana quoting an ICMR survey claimed the state was free from community transmission, even as eight more persons died and 191 new Covid-19 positive cases were recorded on Wednesday.
Despite the state’s tally rising to 4,111 cases and overall death toll from the virus going up to 156, health minister Eatala Rajender said a surveillance study done by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) found there was no community spread in the state.
“ICMR had collected 1,200 samples in rural districts of Jangaon, Kamareddy and Nalgonda as part of prevalence survey conducted between May 15 and 17. Of 1,200 samples, only four persons were tested positive for coronavirus,” health minister Eatala Rajender said.
When it comes to urban areas, surveys in five containment zones of Hyderabad, Adibatla, Tappachabutra, Miyapur, Chandanagar and Balapur was conducted on May 30 and 31 and 500 samples collected. In this survey also, only 15 were found to be positive for Covid 19, the minister said.
Rajender said this was possible only due to strict implementation of lockdown and preventive measures taken by the state government along with people’s cooperation.
Later in the day, Telangana health department bulletin said of the total cases, 143 cases were reported in Greater Hyderabad, while 11 cases each came from Medchal and Sangareddy districts. Eight new cases were reported in Ranga Reddy district and the rest were from Mahbubnagar, Jagtial, Medak, Nagarkurnool, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Vikarabad, Nalgonda and Siddipet.
Officials said till today 1,817 Covid-19 patients were discharged after they recovered, while 2,138 patients were being treated for the infection.
Meanwhile, a central government team on Covid-19 headed by joint secretary Sanjay Jaju visited GHMC office on Wednesday. He along with other central team members Vikas Gade, Dr Ravinder met GHMC commissioner Lokesh Kumar on the steps being taken to contain the spread of the virus.
Jaju said community cooperation was must for containment of Covid -19. He inquired about the situation prevalent in zone, ward and circlewise in the GHMC area. He said that the lockdown restrictions were almost relaxed. Private hospitals and labs in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai were conducting Covid 19 tests and around 70% of tests were found to be positive.
The joint secretary discussed in detail on the number of positive cases in the GHMC area, methods adopted in contact tracing, facilities available for Covid 19 testing, hospitals, home quarantine, home isolation, containment issues with the officials. He said in the present scenario to contain a virus spread home quarantine was the only method available.
As the cases were increasing by more than 100 every day, all-district collectors, health officials, deputy commissioners in GHMC limits were asked to create a WhatsApp group to improve coordination issues and also to share information without any delays.