Hyderabad suddenly emerges as 'high focus area' with a surge in Covid-19 cases

Hyderabad: Telangana's capital city of Hyderabad has suddenly emerged as a “high focus area” for Covid-19 incidence, requiring stern disease containment measures.

State authorities reported a huge leap in the number of new coronavirus (Covid-19) positive cases, registering 61 fresh infections in a single day. One death was also reported.  The total number of Covid-19 cases in Telangana thus reached 592 on Monday.

The bulk of the new cases were from within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits. With 216 ‘active’ Covid-19 cases, Hyderabad’s current case burden matches those of the next 14 districts.

The sudden spike in cases in the city has become a serious cause for concern for the government, especially after the fresh cases had begun to fall for a couple of days.

After the number of cases dipped from 49 (April 8) to 18 (April 9) and then stayed at 16 each on April 10 and 11, it rose to 28 (April 12) and 61 on April 13.

At least 13 fresh Covid-19 positive cases were from one locality in the Charminar area of the Old City of Hyderabad. Most of these cases are from a single family.

Elsewhere in the city, one medical imaging technician at a private hospital and a nurse from a different private hospital tested positive for the disease. Three others in the imaging technician’s family too tested positive for the disease, it was learnt.

Officials are worried that the next few days might see a further rise in the capital, as testing on all contacts of new cases is carried out.

The sudden uptick spurred chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to instruct officials to crack down on all movement of people living in the designated Covid-19 containment zones within the GHMC limits.

There are 126 such containment zones in the city.

Chandrashekar Rao told a high level review at his office, “I do not want anyone to leave their homes in these zones for whatever reason. If they require anything, officials will deliver it to their doorsteps.”

To this end, 17 GHMC circles will be treated as independent entities and a team of officials be appointed, with an officials from the health department heading the team. This circle-wise group will have one officer deputed from the police department, one from GHMC and one from revenue department, the CM said.

The chief minister called on people to follow lockdown procedures strictly and called on officials to stay alert and vigilant.

Chandrashekar Rao told the meeting that extra attention is required in the 126 containment zones within GHMC limit, while steps being taken in the remaining such 120 zones in other districts should continue with a similar vigour.

The doctors to be identified as team leaders for each of GHMC’s circles, will be vested the powers of the district medical and health officer to ensure “prompt and immediate action,” the department said.