Telangana witnessed the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases as well as deaths, with 7,432 fresh infections and 33 more fatalities, the health department said on Saturday. The new cases took the total number of cases to over 3.87 lakh, while the death toll has risen to 1,961.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 1,464, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri 606 and Rangareddy 504, the bulletin said, providing details as of 8 PM on April 23. Active cases stood at 58,148, it said. The total number of cumulative cases stood at 3,87,106 while with 2,157 patients being cured, the total recoveries were at 3,26,997.
So far, over 1.23 crore samples have been tested, which include over 1.03 lakh on Saturday. The samples tested per million population was over 3.32 lakh, the bulletin said. The case fatality and recovery rates were 0.51 percent and 86.16 per cent respectively, compared to 1.1 per cent and 83.5 percent at the national level, it said.
The state has 307 active micro containment zones, though these are listed as micro containment zones, there has been no surveillance being done in those areas to protect COVID-19 patients, according to the reports.
A separate release said over 33.38 lakh people in the state have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while over 4.66 lakh got their second shots, also as of April 23.
In the wake of fires at hospitals treating coronavirus patients in some states, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday instructed officials to check fire safety systems in all government and private hospitals. 12 people were killed in a fire in a hospital in Virar in Maharashtra where COVID-19 patients were being treated.
A senior official said the State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department is closely monitoring fire safety measures of each COVID-19 hospital and quarantine centre, conducting regular inspections, besides surprise checks to verify the functionality of fire fighting equipment.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy on Saturday said four oxygen plants for Telangana, developed by DRDL (Defence Research and Development Laboratory), will be operational from the first week of May. The Minister, who earlier visited the state-run Gandhi Hospital, a COVID-19 dedicated hospital in Hyderabad, inspected the wards in which patients are being treated and took stock of the facilities being provided and required, in the interest of the speedy recovery of the patients.
Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, who held a video conference with District Collectors and other officials, said that the government has sanctioned Rs 20 crore for an additional 12,000 beds with oxygen facilities to augment the fight against the COVID-19 situation in the coming days. He instructed the Collectors to complete the task on a war footing.
Meanwhile, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president and Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy tested positive for coronavirus and has been admitted to a private hospital in Hyderabad on Saturday, party sources said.
With PTI inputs