“We don’t have an exact count of all those who had attended the funeral that took place on February 10,” Dr G Sujatha, the District Medical Health Officer (DMHO) for Karimnagar told TNM. “We tested 44 people today and four tested positive for the virus,” she added.
The first attendee of the funeral to test positive for the coronavirus reported to the hospital on February 17, after complaints of loss of smell. His test results came positive on February 18. A mobile team was dispatched to the village the same day. About 16 close relatives of the patient tested positive. The next day, Friday, 17 more tested positive.
The patient had attended a funeral of a man who died due to cancer on February 10, said Dr Sujatha.
“All those who tested positive so far are relatives of the patient. We are keeping track of their health and doing all the needful. At the moment there is no lockdown in the village. Those affected are under home isolation and all live in one lane of the village, the cases are not scattered,” said Sujatha, “It is a good thing that we picked this up early, else it would have become bad. Today we carried out an awareness programme. At the moment we are in watch and vigilance mode,” she added.
Dr Sujatha further stated that the contact tracing efforts are being carried out with the help of panchayat officials.
Telangana on Friday reported 165 fresh COVID-19 cases and one death. The state's overall tally of COVID-19 cases stands at 2,97,278 and the death toll at 1,623.