Hyderabad: Medics screen people for COVID-19 diagnosis, at a government hospital in Hyderabad (PTI)

After weeks of rising Covid-19 cases in Telangana, especially Hyderabad, the state’s recovery rate has now improved to 72 per cent while the death rate is less than one per cent, according to government data. As on July 19, 32,438 patients of the 45,076 cases in the state had recovered, while 409 had succumbed to the virus.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the first dose of the vaccine Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech and currently in the trials phase— was administered to two volunteers at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS). The blood samples and swabs of at least 12 healthy volunteers had been sent last week by NIMS to ICMR-designated labs in New Delhi for testing. ICMR had cleared two volunteers for the trial.

“They are both stable and all their vitals are fine. We will keep them under observation for 48 hours after which they will be discharged,’’ said Dr G Srinivas, who is a member of the team.

In all, NIMS will administer the vaccine to 28 individuals as part of the clinical trial — beign conducted by ICMR in partnership with the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

Speaking on the overall scenario with respect to cases in the state, health department officials said they had increased the number of beds earmarked for Covid-19 to 17,081 — including 1,616 ICU beds and 471 ventilator beds in the 61 government-designated Covid-19 hospitals.

At the Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, where all the cases in the city are being treated, the total bed capacity has been increased to 1,890. Currently, there are 113 patients in the ICU while 464 are receiving oxygen/CPAP support officials said, adding that 1,206 beds were vacant in the hospital.

“Patients are receiving good treatment and they are recovering quickly. In fact, patients do not need to run from one private hospital to another. Gandhi Hospital is capable of handling all the cases that are coming on,” Director of Public Health, G Srinivas Rao said. Officials said that out of the 12,224 active cases, only 1,900 are in hospitals while the rest are availing treatment in isolation at homes.

However, officials are worried about the spread of the infection in other districts. So far, cases have been reported from 30 of the state’s 33 districts with an alarming number of cases in Warangal, Medchal, and Sangareddy.