Health Ministry officals led by Lav Aggarwal visit Telangana to review Covid situation

A Central Health Ministry team led by Joint Secretary Lav Aggarwal visited Telangana on Monday to review the situation in the state. The team visited the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences, Gandhi hospital, and a containment zone in Himayatnagar of Hyderabad. 

READ: Coronavirus Live Updates: Lockdown Extended Till July 31; India's Cases At 5.4 Lakhs

Health Ministry visits Telangana 

Health Minister E Rajender said that the state government would continue extensive COVID-19 testing and implement measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus. "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 Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's directives," he told reporters. 

Telangana has reported 14,419 cases with 247 deaths due to the virus. 

READ: Telangana Govt To Continue Extensive Testing, Containment Measures: Minister

Union Home Ministry, on Monday, issued a guideline for 'Unlock 2.0'. The guidelines prohibits opening of educational institutions, international air travel, metro rail, cinema halls, bars, auditoriums, swimming pools, gymnasiums, and large congregations. The MHA has shortened the night curfew timing from 10 PM to 5 AM and stated national directives for COVID management still apply.

Prior to the Centre's lockdown extension - West Bengal, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, Jharkhand, Mizoram and Tamil Nadu extended lockdown in their respective states. Most state governments have stated the further relaxations will be allowed in the next phase. Assam has imposed lockdown in Guwahati, Telanagana is mulling to re-impose lockdown in Hyderabad, Karanataka has imposed Sunday lockdown from July 5.

READ: Telangana Sees Highest Surge With 1087 New Cases; State Warns Pvt Labs Over Data Mismatch

Vaccines get approval

After successful preliminary testing, the Health Ministry has approved clinical human trials for Covaxin. It has been approved for Phase I & II Human Clinical Trials which will begin from July. The vaccine is being developed by Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV).

READ: Central Team To Visit Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana To Bolster COVID-19 Management Efforts

(With ANI inputs)