First Covid-19 death in Telangana, 6 more test positive (Ld)
Hyderabad, March 28 (IANS) A 74-year-old man from Hyderabad has become the first victim of coronavirus in Telangana.
The man, who recently returned from New Delhi, died at a private hospital, but examination of his body later showed that he was positive for Covid-19, state Health Minister Etela Rajender told a news conference on Saturday.
The man fell sick on his return and was admitted to the Global Hospital, where he died on Thursday night.
As the government had issued instructions to all hospitals to report all deaths, the private hospital informed the authorities.
The health officials checked the deceased person’s travel history and in suspicion shifted his body to the government-run Gandhi Hospital, where the deceased tested positive for coronavirus.
The authorities found that the deceased person had visited the historic Jamia Masjid in Old Delhi along with his family members.
“He had some other illness and was also diagnosed with pneumonia,” the minister said.
The man had gone to the national capital on March 14 and had returned three days later. He was admitted to the private hospital with complaint of fever.
Meanwhile, six more persons tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 65. All the cases have travel history.
The Health Minister revealed that four persons among the health personnel deployed at Hyderabad Airport for screening the patients were among those who tested positive. A family member of one of the affected persons also contracted the virus.
The minister said that 10 of the total affected persons who were under treatment have now tested negative. If they test negative again over next couple of days, they would be discharged.
He said barring an old-aged person, who had previous history of illness, all were stable.
The Health Minister said the number of persons under quarantine had come down from 20,000 to 13,000 and this is likely to drastically come down in the next 4-5 days.
He also warned of stern action against those hiding their travel history or breaking quarantine norms. He revealed that some of the passengers who landed at Hyderabad Airport had taken Paracetamol to avoid being detected for high body temperature.
He appealed to people not to visit places of worship. Two cases have surfaced through primary contact at religious places.
The state government also stepped up its efforts to come to the rescue of migrant workers from other districts.
Collectors of all districts and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) were directed to open food and accommodation centres for the labourers.
–IANS
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