The owner of Hyderabad’s famous Gokul Chat has tested positive for COVID-19. The 72-year-old man was admitted to Century Hospital in Banjara Hills for pneumonia, according to Sultan Bazar police. His sample was collected to test for COVID-19, and the results came back positive on Tuesday. 

Sultan Bazar SHO Subbarami Reddy told TNM that while the shop had been re-opened from June 8, with lockdown rules being relaxed, the 72-year-old owner had not been visiting the shop and had been staying at his residence near Sultan Bazar’s Jain Mandir. Yet, police have sealed the shop as a precautionary measure.  

Police said that the health department and GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation) officials have visited the patient’s family, collected the samples of around 20 people who had come in contact with him. All the contacts are now under quarantine. 

Gokul Chat, a popular street food outlet in Hyderabad, was also one of the locations of the 2007 Hyderabad twin bomb blasts. The blasts at Hyderabad’s Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park on August 25, 2007 had killed 42 people. 

COVID-19 cases have continued to rise in Telangana, particularly in the GHMC limits. On Monday, Telangana registered 219 new cases, and Hyderabad alone recorded 189 new cases. Hyderabad was followed by the neighbouring Rangareddy district which recorded 13 cases, while Warangal Urban district saw 4 new cases. Warangal Rural district reported 3 new cases, and Medchal and Sangareddy districts recorded 2 new cases. Mahabubnagar, Medak, Adilabad, Yadadri, Wanaparthy and Peddapally districts saw one new case each. 

Taking note of the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, the state government had announced on Sunday  that 50,000 tests will be conducted in and around the GHMC limits over the next few days. The tests are being conducted in thirty Assembly segments of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Vikarabad, Medchal, and Sangareddy districts.