Telangana recorded 107 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday and six deaths, taking the overall death toll to 63. The details of the deceased were not disclosed. Telangana now has 2,098 cases in total.
The high number of cases were attributed to the migrants. On Wednesday, 68 migrant workers who came to Telangana tested positive for the virus, out of whom 49 of them were patients who were deported from Saudi Arabia. This takes the total number of cases in the state to 2,098 including the 297 cases counted separately as those who returned from other states and countries. The state currently has 714 active cases.
The Health Department stated that they have airlifted 458 deportees from Saudi Arabia.
As per the medical bulletin, among the 297 cases counted separately, 173 of them were ‘migrants’, 94 were those who were deported from Saudi Arabia, and 30 of them were foreign evacuees.
The state has also discharged 1,321 patients as of Wednesday.
According to the Director of Public Health and Family Welfare, a majority of the migrants are returning to the state from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar etc.
“These migrants are being home quarantined and monitored by the district authorities. Symptomatic migrants are tested,” the bulletin reads.
Meanwhile, the Telangana government on Wednesday also allowed the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation buses, autos, taxis and cabs to operate during the curfew hours. The state has imposed a curfew from 7 pm to 6 am during the lockdown period in place till May 31.
The decision was taken after the TSRTC suffered heavy losses. According to the TSRTC officials, usually, they would make a profit of Rs 11- Rs 12 crore, however, that has been reduced to just Rs 2 crore amid lockdown. The occupancy of buses is only 39%, and owing to the curfew, people are not showing interest to travel on the buses, they said.
Responding to this, the Chief Minister allowed permits for the TSRTC, autos, taxis and cabs to continue their services even during the curfew hours, except in Hyderabad, which is recording the majority number of COVID-19 cases.