49 fresh cases of COVID-19 in Telangana on single day

Fortynine fresh cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Telangana on Wednesday, taking the total number of positive cases in the state cumulatively to 453.

The number of active cases in the state was 397 as 45 people have been discharged from hospitals after recovery, state Health Minister E Rajender told reporters.

No death occurred due to the virus on Wednesday and the number of deceased remained at 11, he said.

Rajender said none in the 397 was on ventilator support or in ICU of hospitals. They would be discharged from hospitals after they complete the 14-day period and test negative for the virus, he said.

Till date, there was no evidence of community transmission of the virus in Telangana, a media bulletin on COVID-19 said.

Rajender said the returnees from a religious congregation in Delhi who tested negative were being sent to home quarantine till April 21. They would be supervised twice a day by personnel of the health department and police, he said.

The residents of houses of Delhi congregation returnees, who tested negative, would be advised home quarantine till April 28, he said.

He said 3,157 people, who were put in 167 quarantine centres, were being sent home after medical checks by doctors, he said.

Tests have been conducted during the last four-five days and only 535 samples were now left with the authorities, he said. With the testing of samples already over, there would only be a few samples reporting for tests, he said.

Consequently, the numbers may not see an increase similar to Wednesdays numbers (49 fresh cases), he said.

Quoting Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao that the government should continue to be alert though the number of cases related to the Delhi religious congregation was on the wane, Rajender said the government was procuring personal protection equipment (PPE) kits and N-95 masks.

Meanwhile, as part of measures to combat COVID-19 spread, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has set up 12 containment clusters in different areas of the city where 89 positive cases of the virus have been registered, its Commissioner D S Lokesh Kumar said.