The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided not to barricade homes of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus, saying that it was making it difficult to shift them to a hospital in case of a medical emergency.
In a press note, GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar said that as per government guidelines, 2,192 COVID-19 patients were in home isolation, as they were asymptomatic.
"The GHMC, police and Health Department are coordinating in implementation of these guidelines. Previously, barricading was done at containment areas and at apartments which were visible to the public," Lokesh Kumar said.
Earlier, the GHMC was turning the entire colony into a containment zone, but now, only the single home where the patient tests positive for the coronavirus is considered for containment.
Stating that the health condition of people under home isolation was being monitored twice daily through the phone from the GHMC Control Room, Lokesh Kumar said that no barricading would be done.
"In case of emergency, the isolated persons can be easily shifted to a hospital for treatment, whereas previously it was difficult because of barricading the area and causing delay in shifting the person to the hospital," the statement added.
With no barricades, 17 people who were in home isolation were shifted to hospital on June 23, the statement said.
An emergency number is given to all people under home isolation to call if any medical assistance is required, the Commissioner said.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in Telangana crossed 10,000 mark on Wednesday with 891 people testing positive for the virus during the last 24 hours. The Director of Public Health said that 137 patients were discharged from hospitals since Tuesday, pushing the number of recoveries to 4,361.
Telangana became the 11th state in the country to cross 10,000 mark. With a tally of 10,444, it overtook Andhra Pradesh, where the cumulative cases rose to 10,331 earlier on Wednesday.
The media bulletin released by the Health Department also shows the state has increased the number of daily tests to 4,069. Cumulatively, the state has conducted 67,318 tests, still much lower than many other states with a similar population size.
IANS inputs
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