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Updated: Apr 25, 2020 20:21 IST

With Hyderabad emerging as a Covid-19 hotspot accounting for nearly half of the total number of positive cases in Telangana, a five-member Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) made an extensive study of the ground situation in the city and interacted with various officials.

The team led by Arun Baroka, additional secretary in the Union ministry of Jal Sakthi and comprising senior public health specialist Dr Chandrashekhar Gedam, National Institute of Nutrition director Dr Hemlatha, director of ministry of consumer affairs S S Thakur and associate professor in National Institute of Disaster Management Shekhar Chaturvedi met Telangana chief secretary Somesh Kumar in the evening to discuss the steps being taken to contain the spread of the virus.

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An official release said the chief secretary made a detailed presentation on the efforts made by the state government to contain the disease. He told the central team members that all the departments had been working as a team with a uniform Covid-19 management.

He explained in detail the various steps being taken such as treatment being given to the positive patients in Gandhi Hospital, enforcement of lockdown in containment zones, maintenance of quarantine centres, hospital preparedness, surveillance and testing etc,

He also told the members about operation of helpline, procurement of medical equipment, supply of rice to white ration card holders, relief measures to migrant workers and running of Annapurna canteens and shelter homes.

He said chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had ordered extension of lockdown till May 7 so that there was no laxity on the part of the government in preventing the spread of the disease. No relaxations had been given whatsoever in any part of the state, particularly in Hyderabad.

“The central team appreciated the initiatives taken by the state government to contain the spread of the virus in the state,” the official note said.

In the morning, the central team inspected the 1,500-bed Covid-19 hospital – Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) at Gachibowli. The team members made a thorough enquiry of the availability of doctors, supporting staff, testing kits, PPEs and masks.

The team members also inspected Annapurna free meals distribution centre at Gachhibowli circle and interacted with the beneficiaries. They also visited the kitchens of Akshaya Pathra foundation at Kokapet and Narsingi.

On Sunday, the team members are expected to meet Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy and other top police officials including commissioners of police of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda, apart from senior officials of the health department to understand how Covid-19 had spread so rapidly in Hyderabad in the last three weeks.

According to the official statistics, out of 983 Corona virus positive cases registered in Telangana till Friday night, as many as 485 cases were reported within the limits of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits that encompass three districts – Hyderabad, RangaReddy and Medchal (Malkajgiri).

“The number of cases has been alarmingly rising in the densely populated areas of GHMC where the chances of virus spread to others is high. However, the numbers have been coming down in the last two days – only 12 cases have been reported since Thursday,” a GHMC official said on condition of anonymity.

Health minister Etala Rajender told reporters that a massive contact tracing exercise by the state government had revealed that as many as 268 positive cases in the GHMC limits were related to only 44 families.

“For example, six people from the Talab Katta region in the old city were responsible for the spread of the disease in as many as 61 others,” he pointed out.

The Telangana government has declared entire Hyderabad as a Red Zone and enforcing lockdown very strictly. The chief minister directed that the GHMC officials concentrate more on Hyderabad by segregating the city into several zones and to appoint Special Officers to each zone considering each zone as a unit.

Till the third week of April, as many as 139 containment clusters had been identified in Hyderabad out of the 221 clusters in Telangana where entry and exit are totally prohibited with high barricades and heavy police deployment. The government machinery has been supplying essential commodities to people inside.

On Friday, as many as 45 containment zones in the GHMC were brought into safe zone, as no fresh cases were reported from these areas. “If this trend continues, we will be able to control the spread of the coronavirus,” the health minister said.