There was no letup in COVID-19 cases in Telangana with 52 more persons testing positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, taking the state's tally to 644. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) region continued to be of great concern as 33 cases were reported, increasing the total number of cases from 216 to 249.
According to the state Health Department, one more person died on Tuesday, pushing the death toll to 18. Seven patients were discharged from hospitals during the day. With this, the total number of patients getting cured and discharged rose to 110. The total number of active cases now stands at 516.
The state government also said 221 containment clusters were created in 25 districts. More than 12 lakh people were surveyed in these clusters.
Earlier in the day, Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao and Health Minister Eatala Rajender reviewed strategies to be implemented in containment zones. They asked the officials to act tough on those who bypass the lockdown in containment zones.
As Greater Hyderabad accounts for the majority of cases, the ministers discussed the action plan and precautionary measures to be taken to control the spread of coronavirus in the state capital.
KTR appealed to the citizens to strictly follow the lockdown rules and said that social distancing is the only way one can keep the coronavirus away. He instructed the officials to close all the entries to the containment zones and leave only one route open, under police surveillance.
"Hyderabad district is a high focus area. Robust containment is being initiated in GHMC areas. A special strategy is being adopted to contain the spread of infection in GHMC areas. In line with 30 GHMC circles, senior officers (Doctors) are being identified and vested with the powers of DMHO (District Medical and Health Officer) so as to ensure prompt and immediate action," a medical bulletin by the health department said.
Health Minister Eatala Rajender said that the coming 10 days will be very crucial and appealed to the citizens to not venture out of their homes. He stated that all the medical arrangements are in place and asked police and medical teams to immediately move those who show any symptoms of coronavirus in the containment zone to the hospital. He also asked them to increase the availability of ambulances if necessary.
Meanwhile, The Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) was chosen as one of the five validation centres for coronavirus testing kits in the country by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
CCMB is the only non-ICMR lab to be a part of these Centres of Excellence that will validate the non-US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and non-EUA (Emergency Use Authorisation) approved kits for COVID-19 testing, a press release said.
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