75 new Covid cases, 2 more deaths in Telangana

Hyderabad: Telangana reported 75 new positive cases of the novel coronavirus  and two more deaths due to the disease it causes, Covid-19 on Friday. This was the highest number thus far of cases to be reported on a single day, indicating that the epidemic is now at the foot of an exponential curve.

The total number of positive cases stands at 229 and the total death toll at 11.

The deaths included a 55-year-old woman who had no travel history to any place in India came in for treatment for suspected pneumonia to Osmania General Hospital (OGH) on March 31. She died the next day. Her swab samples were taken but the results arrived Covid-19 positive after her death.

After the death of the woman, Ranga Reddy district collector Amoy Kumar and Cyberabad police commissioner VC Sajjanar visited Chegur village from where the woman hailed.

Collector Amoy Kumar said the woman ran a small grocery in the village and it was very likely she exposed many of her customers to the virus. A survey is being conducted to identify people who were in contact with her, including those who carried her body for cremation.

On March 19, four persons from Bihar came to the village and took shelter in a house belonging to her. They had travelled by the Sampark Kranthi Express, in which people returning from the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin in Old Delhi also travelled. These four persons too are being quarantined.

About 30 teams are working to conduct a survey in the village, said Cyberabad police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar.

The other patient who died on Friday is a 45-year-old from Secunderabad, who had developed a severe respiratory infection.

Of the 75 patients who have tested Covid-19 positive, eight have been shifted from the Nature Cure Hospital and three from Fever Hospital, including a child. After confirmation of positive status, they were brought to Gandhi Hospital, which is a notified Covid-19 hospital. All confirmed cases have to be treated there.

The remaining 64 patients are people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat’s congregation in Nizamuddin. A total of 30 people who were part of the congregation, who have no symptoms, are being shifted to isolation centres.

Ten Indonesian nationals, who tested positive, have now been declared negative. They are going to be quarantined for 14 more days at the Chest Hospital.

The doctors at Gandhi Hospital had sent a requisition to the central Health Ninistry that relatives must behave properly with frontline workers and not obstruct them in work. This was sent after doctors at Gandhi Hospital were attacked by angry relatives of a deceased patient.

The Union Health Ninistry on Friday appealed to patients and their family members not to create hurdles for health workers. A concern has also been raised on misbehaviour and asked people to co-operate in the process of testing.

The biggest problem is time duration for test results to be known, which is more than 24 hours. This is making people restless, as they are made to sit in rooms and have no clue what is going to happen to them.

Anxiety and panic are driving them crazy. To top it all, doctors, paramedical staff and others do not want to come close to them. The emotional distancing and in hospitals is puzzling these patients.

A senior doctor explained, “Earlier, we would all surround a patient. Now we are not going close to them. This makes a patient wonder what is so wrong with them that even a treating doctor is not coming close.”