In a significant development, Telangana Health Minister Eatela Rajender on Wednesday announced that the first positive case of coronavirus in Hyderabad, a 24-year-old techie, has recovered and will be discharged soon.
According to the Minister, the patient, who is undergoing treatment in the isolation ward of the state-run Gandhi Hospital, tested negative and this was cross-checked with a second test conducted by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, as per the protocol.
"For now, there is not a single positive case of coronavirus in the state," Rajender declared.
The minister said that once the techie is discharged, he would be placed under home quarantine for a period of 14 days and will be kept under the observation of concerned medical officers.
Arrangements are also underway to set up isolation wards in nine district headquarters, Rajender said, adding that the Centre has allowed tests for determination of the virus to be conducted at three additional labs — Kakatiya Medical College (MGM hospital), Warangal, Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) and Fever Hospital in Hyderabad.
The three labs are in addition to the labs at Gandhi hospital and Osmania General Hospital, both in Hyderabad. The five labs would be fully functioning in about four to five days, he said.
While assuring that the state will take all steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus, he said that all the international passengers are being screened.
The state reported its first COVID-19 case on March 2 when the 24-year-old techie, who returned from Dubai, tested positive. The man, who worked in Bengaluru, is suspected to have contracted the virus while interacting with a team from Hong Kong in Dubai.
He was isolated immediately along with his family members, while others who came in contact with him, were asked to be under home quarantine for a period of 14 days.
Another two suspected cases of coronavirus in Telangana had also triggered mild panic but had come back negative. While one was an IT employee with a travel history to Italy, the other was a hospital staffer who came in contact with the first positive case when he was initially admitted at a private hospital.
The Telangana government has set up a Command Control Room to oversee anti-coronavirus measures across the state and in Hyderabad. A helpline has also been set up at 104.
PTI inputs