Seven deaths, 1,198 new COVID-19 cases in Telangana

The sharp rise in COVID-19 cases continued in Telangana on Monday, with 1,198 new infections and seven deaths being reported taking the tally of to 46,274 and the fatalities to 422.

The Phase-1 human clinical trials for Covaxin, a vaccine candidate for COVID-19, began today at the government run Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) here.

According to a bulletin, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the hospot of the virus spread in the state, continued to witness a huge number of cases, while a considerable number was reported from the districts.

Out of the 1,198 fresh cases, 510 were reported from the GHMC limits, followed by Ranga Reddy and Karimnagar districts with 106 and 87 cases respectively.

Medchal saw 76 cases, Warangal Urban (73), Mahabubnagar (50), Jagityal (36), Mahabubabad (36), Nizamabad (31), Jayashankar Bhupalpally (26), Nalgonda (24), Medak (13) and Sangareddy (10) The bulletin said 34,323 people (74 per cent) have recovered so far. A total of 11,530 were under treatment and 11,003 samples were tested today.

Cumulatively, 2,76,222 samples have been tested.

The bulletin said the tests per million population were 6,906, while cumulative sample positivity ratewas 16.8 per cent.

The total number of government COVID-19 hospitals was 61 and the number of earmarked COVID-19 beds was 17,081, it said.

The number of ICU beds inCOVID-19 hospitals was 1,616 and the total number of ventilators was 471.

The number of vacant isolation beds, oxygen beds and ICU beds were 10,768 and 2,891 and 1,300 respectively, it said.

The bulletin said the government has made elaborate arrangements for treating COVID-19 patients and that sufficient beds are available in government hospitals.

It said people can contact 9154170960 on Whatsapp for any grievances related to private hospitals and laboratories.

On Monday, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao called on Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan at Raj Bhavan, official sources said.

However, there was no official word on the details of the meeting.

Meanwhile, shopkeepers announced a voluntary lockdown in some districts in view of the virus spread.

The associations of traders and business establishments declared the lockdown for varying durations in towns such as Zaheerabad, Sadasivpaet, Sangareddy and Dubbak and Nizamabad.

Television news channels claimed that the body of a woman, who died in a hospital in Warangal, remained ona stretcher in the open when it was raining.

Official sources said her children had gone to get a vehicle to shift the body and it was soon placed under a shade. COR