BackFirst COVID-19 death in Telangana, cases climb to 67
The deceased was admitted in the hospital after developing pneumonia and passed away later
PremiumHYDERABAD : Telangana registered its first coronavirus (COVID-19) death on Saturday after a 74-year-old man with travel history to Delhi died at a private hospital.
The deceased was admitted in the hospital after developing pneumonia and passed away later, after which a test confirmed that he was infected with the novel virus. State health minister Eatala Rajender said that the total number of cases currently stand at 67.
“Six people tested positive for coronavirus today and there are a total of 67 cases in the state. Ten of the people have however tested negative once and a second test is to be conducted (to confirm if they are not infected, which will then reduce the total to 55)," said Rajender, while addressing a press conference on Saturday evening.
The health minister added that those who tested positive over the last two days include a family of six in Hyderabad’s old city and a family of four in Hyderabad. In the case of the former, the person who transmitted the virus to his family had travelled recently to New Delhi. Rajender also added that a few health department staff members working at the airport had also got infected with the virus and are currently in isolation.
“That man had gone to Delhi and then infected the family. Similarly, another doctor was also infected with the virus after he came into contact with someone who had gone to England. The coronavirus has come here only through people who came from abroad and spread to others who came into contact infected persons. It does not spread through the air, so don’t believe rumours," Rajender added.
The health minister also took stock of the situation at the Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad which is being turned into a 1500-bed isolation and treatment centre in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Telangana government had imposed a lockdown since 22 March itself, and has since been working to ensure that essential commodities are available easily to the public, which initially went into panic mode.
Rajender also stated that not a single patient undergoing treatment and isolation in the state is in a serious condition or on ventilator. Moreover, the state government turned the government Gandhi hospital into a coronavirus-only treatment facility and has begun the process to shift all other patients to other state-run hospitals.
A day earlier on Friday, seven people, including two minors, died in a road accident after the open truck they were travelling in was hit from the rear by a lorry. The deceased are all believe to be migrant workers who were returning back to their native in Karnataka from Suryapet in Telangana. The accident took place Pedda Golconda (about 40 kilometres from Hyderabad) late on Friday night at the Outer Ring Road (ORR), after which the police imposed restrictions on vehicular movement on the ORR.
According to Shamshabad deputy commissioner of police (under the Cyberabad police limits), M. Vishwa Prasad, apart from the deceased, six others who were travelling in the open truck are seriously injured. They have been shifted to a government hospital for treatment. There were a total of 30 workers travelling in the open truck, and the accident took place at 10:30 p.m. on Friday. After the accident, the police has been disallowing private vehicles to operate on the ORR.
The deceased have been identified as Chintu, Rangappa, Sharanappa, Amrish, Basamma, Siriyamma (girl, nine years old) and Hanumantappa (boy, 2 years old). In Telangana, scores of migrant workers have been stranded ever since the state government imposed a lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
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