Six deaths, 975 new COVID-19 cases in T'gana

Hyderabad, Jun 29 () Telangana continued to witness a spike in COVID-19 cases on Monday, with as many as 975 new cases and six deaths being reported, taking the tally of positive cases to 15,394 and the toll to 253.

Out of the 975 fresh cases, 861 were reported from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), followed by Ranga Reddy district, neighbouring Hyderabad, with 40

A state government bulletin said 5,582 people have been discharged so far, while 9,559 were under treatment.

A total of 2,648 samples were tested on Monday, it said.

Cumulatively, 85,106 samples have been tested.

Official sources said a state minister has tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital here.

To assess the COVID-19 situation in Telangana, a Central team led by Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry, visited the state on Monday and suggested that the government focus on containment measures, increasing testing capacity, tracing and clinical management. The team also suggested formulating an action plan for the next two months, keeping in view the likely increase in number of virus cases, an official release said. "The central team shared their field visit experience of other states and expressed satisfaction (and) particularly appreciated the hospital management in the state," it said. The members visited state-run COVID-19 hospitals and a containment area and took stock of the ground situation.

Later, they met Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and other senior officials and held a detailed discussion on the steps to be taken to prevent the spread of the virus, it said.

Meanwhile, Health Minister E Rajender said the state government would continue extensive COVID-19 testing and implement measures to contain the spread of the virus .

"We have set up special centres for swab collection in Hyderabad. Since there was a heavy load of samples, we took a two-day break and cleared it.. From tomorrow onwards, we will collect swab extensively and test and continue the process of providing treatment as per CMs directives," he told reporters here.

The government, which has been accused by opposition parties of conducting a low number of tests,had earlier this month announced that it would examine around 50,000 samples in Hyderabad and neighbouring areas, where the case load has remained high, as part of steps to check the virus spread.

Rajender said the government would announce containment zones in areas where COVID-19 cases are rising and restrict movement of people.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has spoken about re- imposing lockdown, if need be, in Hyderabad to check the virus spread and convening the state cabinet in another four-five days to discuss the situation, he said.

Meanwhile, 47 police personnel working in different police stations and Traffic wing in Hyderabad City Police rejoined duty after recovering from COVID-19, an official release said on Monday.

Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar honoured them with a certificate and a small gift and said "we are very happy to welcome our Department Heroes". SJR VVK APR RAVINDRANATH APR RAVINDRANATH