First confirmed Covid-19 case detected in Hyderabad; condition of man stable: Telangana minister

The first confirmed case of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Telangana was reported from Hyderabad on Monday where a man, who recently returned from Dubai, tested postive for the virus.

The union health ministry announced that two fresh novel coronavirus cases, one in Delhi and another in Telangana, have been reported in India. Telangana Health Minister E Rajender said on Monday that the condition of the man was stable and he is being treated in an isolated ward at the state-run Gandhi hospital in the city.

Meanwhile, a woman social activist, who returned from abroad, has also been admitted to the hospital and the test results were awaited, hospital sources said. The 24-year-old man, a software engineer who works in Bengaluru, had worked with people from Hong Kong in Dubai last month where he is suspected to have contracted the virus, Rajender told reporters.

The man reached Bengaluru on February 19/20 and later came to Hyderabad in a bus. He took treatment for fever after coming to Hyderabad and was admitted to a private super speciality hospital in the city. As it did not subside, he came to the state-run Gandhi hospital on Sunday evening, Rajender said.

According to the minister, the government is tracking all those who came in contact with him, including family members besides those who travelled with him in the bus and the medical staff in the private hospital where he was treated. Replying to a question, Rajender said about 80 people, including members of the patient's family and hospital staff, have been identified.

"Identifying them does not mean that they are infected," he said. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was informed about the coronavirus case and he has directed that a meeting of medical and health department officials be organised and all steps to prevent the spread of the virus taken, Rajender said. Official sources said a meeting of Panchayati Raj, municipal administration, police, tourism, revenue and other departments would be held on Tuesday as part of the efforts to deal with the situation.

The state government would function as per the guidelines of the Centre, the minister said. The state government has informed its counterparts in Karnataka about the present case, he said, adding, arrangements were being made to ensure that the virus does not spread.

The Union Health Ministry said two fresh cases of the novel coronavirus one in Delhi and another in Telangana  have been reported in India, taking the number of people who have tested positive for the respiratory virus in the country to five so far. The infected person from Delhi recently travelled to Italy.

The deadly virus, COVID-19, has killed 2,912 people in China and has spread to at least 58 countries. The three people, which include two medical students of a university at Wuhan, who had earlier tested positive for the virus in Thrissur, Alappuzuha and Kasaragod districts in Kerala were discharged following recovery. 

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