Even as the Telangana government is mulling to reimpose lockdown in Hyderabad for at least 15 days in Greater Hyderabad, a central team led by Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Health, Medical and Family Welfare, Luv Agarwal on Monday held detailed discussions with Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar.
The meeting was held to assess the ground situation and suggest measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus in Telangana. The team led by Luv Agarwal visited various facilities in Greater Hyderabad limits including Gandhi Hospital, Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences in Gachibowli to inspect the isolation wards and ICU beds. The team also visited Dobigalli in Dommalguda which was declared as a containment zone.
The Chief Secretary through a video presentation apprised Luv Agarwal of the measures being initiated by the Telangana government to contain the spread of the virus. The central team has asked the state government to strictly undertake steps on a war footing, which includes increase in the institutional quarantine facilities and stringent implementation of containment strategy.
The Chief Secretary informed Luv Agarwal that the Telangana government had readied 17,081 beds and beefed up the medical staff by 4,489. He also told Luv Agarwal that the government had allocated nearly Rs 475 crore to provide basic medical facilities. The central team apprised the Chief Secretary of the measures being initiated in other states. After the meeting, the central team expressed that the initiatives of the Telangana government were satisfactory. This is the third central team to visit Telangana after the state reported the first Coronavirus case in March. An inter-ministerial team had visited the state in April and had expressed satisfaction over the measures taken by the state government.
The central team visit comes in the wake of an alarming rise in infection rates. Telangana is likely to impose lockdown in Greater Hyderabad for at least 15 days. Health Minister Etela Rajender on Monday said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is mulling to impose complete lockdown in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, which have been reporting the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the state. A decision to this effect will be taken in a Cabinet meeting, he said.
The state witnessed the highest single-day jump of 1,087 Covid-19 cases on Sunday. The corona tally crossed 14,000 overtaking Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. Of the fresh cases, 888 were reported in Greater Hyderabad which has emerged as the biggest hotspot in the state.
