49 new coronavirus cases reported in Telangana, 34 in Andhra on Wednesday
- At least over 600 people from Telangana attended the religious congregation at the Markaz Niamuddin in New Delhi last month
- Among all of AP’s 13 districts, the highest number of covid-19 patients have been reported from Kurnool (75)
Hyderabad: Continuing an upward trend, Telangana reported 49 new cases of the novel coronavirus (covid-19) on Wednesday, with the state’s tally rising to 453. In the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh, as well, the number of covid-19 cases rose to 348 on the same day after 34 more people tested positive for the virus.
On Wednesday, Telangana health minister Eatala Rajender said that there are 500-odd samples of people, who attended the religious congregation at the Markaz Niamuddin in New Delhi last month, which will be tested in a day or two, and said he is confident that the number of covid-19 cases in the state will reduce after this cluster is completely tested and quarantined.
At least over 600 people from Telangana attended the meeting.
“Out of the total (453) cases, about 200 of them are of those who attended the meeting in Delhi, while another 170 are of their contacts,” Rajender said while addressing a press conference on Wednesday. He added that most of the people who are in quarantine (been since the last few weeks) will be done with their time is isolation, and added peopled linked to the Markaz Nizamuddin who tested positive will be in isolation until the end of April.
In AP, chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday launched testing kits for covid-19, manufactured by the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ), a medical equipment manufacturing zone. The state government announced that the AMTZ has started to manufacture 2,000 kits per day, aimed at making the state not only self-sufficient, but also a supplier in the country. The capacity will be increased to 25,000 units per dat gradually, said a press release.
Among all of AP’s 13 districts, the highest number of covid-19 patients have been reported from Kurnool (75), followed by Guntur (49) and Nellore (48) in third place. A day earlier on 7 April, 11 new cases were reported from AP, which was much lesser in terms of sheer numbers as compared to the past fortnight (when the number of cases shot some from over to nearly in a short period of time).
So far out of the total 453 people who have been infected with covid-19, 397 people are currently undergoing treatment, while 45 people have been discharged (after recovery) and 11 others have died due to the virus.
In AP, out of the total 348 covid-19 positive people, four have died so far and six patients have been discharged after they recovered. Most of the cases in both the Telugu states are linked to people who attended the Markaz Nizamuddin (over 1500 people from two Telugu states).
Earlier this week, Telangana chief minister K. Chandrahsekhar Rao (KCR) appealed to prime minister Narendra Modi to extend the lockdown, imposed across the country, by another one or two weeks this month to contain the spread of covid-19. KCR stated that this was the only solution to curb the virus’s spread in the state, and added that all the tests on those who attended the congregation at the Markaz Nizamuddin will be done by Thursday.
The Telangana government on Wednesday also banned the spitting of paan or any other chewable tobacco or non-tobacco substance at public places as a preventive measure to curtail the spread of covid-19.
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First Published:8 Apr 2020, 11:48 PM IST
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